Riddles of Fate
by mad-man
Summary: a new bot escapes from his medafighter and discovers a medabot city. among other things...
1. Default Chapter

Ok, I don't know where I got the idea for this story. Wherever I got the idea, it is going to be written differently than what I would normally do.  
  
Here is the standard disclaimer: I don't own Medabots; wish I did. I've said it I won't again.  
  
Questions of My 'Life'  
  
-------------Who Am I? -------------  
  
... Thought? No, processing. Lines of zeros and ones, flashes of symbols. ... Touch? No, sensors. More ones, more zeros. Sound? Yes, but not heard; rather a wave of energy known as sound, it sounds like, 'I'll call you Xetreame.' Sight now, a flickering picture of a young smiling boy, even more ones and zeros. Following close behind sight is glowing red grids imposed over and around the picture of the boy and room behind him, giving a sense of depth size and distance. Above my vision floats glowing bars of red, yellow, green and blue. E1, E2, A1, A2, Head, Body, L-Arm, R-Arm, Legs.  
  
Then I felt conflict, confusion. The boy spoke again, "Hello? Xetreame?" Yes, this was the name he called me, but at the same time I knew it wasn't my name. The boy was checking something on his wrist when I asked, ripples of my voice passing through my mind: "Who are you?" He looked up and smiled, "Hi, I'm Gorge. Your medafighter." That word 'medafighter', it made me feel happy, terrified, and trapped all at once, this just added to my confusion.  
  
I pulled myself to my feet and in one motion hurled myself toward and out the window. The glass shatters and follows me toward the ground. The ground is rising, but slowly; I twist around and land on my feet, rolling forward. A voice in my head is saying something; it doesn't matter, all that matters is that I get away from this feeling of what can only be called wrong. I run, and run. At some point I reach a place full of people and vehicles; I pay them no mind and keep running. I'm tired, hot. I turn toward a dark opening between buldings; I crawl back behind a pile of trash. The voice is saying something about overheating and shutdown. I'm very tired; I fight to stay awake but the darkness comes and claims me.  
  
Alright, that's the first chapter. It is very different from how I normally write but it seams to work well. If you read this please review, I'll take any tips advice and criticism, as long as it helps me write better. Also I need some of your creations: medafighters and their medabots as well as just some medabots without medafighters. And before anyone asks, yes I didn't describe Xetreame for a reason, namely I haven't decided what to make him. If you have read any of my other works, could you tell me what kind of writing you think is better, this style or my usual?  
  
And thanks to my proofreader, Meruml, but I am looking for someone who has some more free time. If you would like to proof-read my stories let me know, my email is cockpitdude2002@yahoo.com  
  
Thanks for reading (and hopefully reviewing), it shouldn't be long before I update, but it depends on Meruml. Later,  
The MAD-MAN 


	2. What am I?

I did the disclaimer in the first chapter, if you think I own medabots go back and read it again.  
  
I don't know what I was thinking when I started this, maybe you can tell me?  
  
Review reply - none =(  
  
---------What am I?------------  
  
I awake to whispered voices. They move off as I come out from behind the trash I had slept behind. The sky is darkening and crowded with heavy clouds; the sun is only a weak glow in the west. The streets are almost devoid of people; all is almost silent, but for the passing of the occasional car. I stood there infront of the ally; an urgent need to go back to George. But another urge that I should get away from.something. The light dimmed and the storm rumbled as I stood in indecision.  
  
Still I stood there when the light was gone and the rain began to fall. The rain, although fast and hard, soothed and calmed me, but still I was unable to decide what to do. Behind me I heard a light laughter followed by splashes of feet in shallow pools of water. The sound came form just beyond the light cast from the few streetlights. As I turned back toward the sound, a soft voice called, "What have we here? A lost little pet, a child's servant?" Even though the voice was soft it carried a sting of hate and jealousy. Then a different voice muttering, "Servant boy." The two came closer, their forms still just shadows. Even if out to hurt me, these words only made my decision final: I wouldn't go back.  
  
"What? Can't the little servant boy talk, or is he afraid?" The jealousy was gone from the voice leaving only a hardened hate, not of me but of what they thought I was. My reply was rather simple and caused the feminine voice to stop its laughing. "I don't fear you; I only fear that I don't know anything about anything, even myself." The second shadow moved back into the darkness, while the first spoke again, "You don't know anything? What about your name?" I simply shook my head.  
"Ok then, you should come with us. After all us medabots have to stick by each other." She came forward out of the shadows.  
  
She was a cat medabot; mostly sliver, but her left arm was blue and she had a couple of patches at different places on her armor. Even though I saw this, my mind was racing. Why was I avoiding thinking of medabots? I am one, and there where almost as many of them as people. But, when I thought of myself as a medabot, it just didn't seam to fit.  
I had to leave my thoughts for later as she started talking again, "My name is Sliver Star but everyone calls me Star. What should we call you?"  
I had no idea what my name should be or is supposed to be. The kid who activated me called me Extreme, but that wasn't my name and it would send me into self-conflict to hear it too often. "EX. Just call me EX."  
  
Star and I started walking through back alleys and across side streets; she said we where going to a 'medabot sanctuary'. Her companion had left us back in the ally, even before I could see him. Star said his name was Heroth, and that I would meet him later. It wasn't long before we came to into a closed off ally that was full of busted crates and piles of scrap metal; there was an old truck flipped on its side. Star stopped and when I turned back she lashed out and hit me in the chest, sending me falling backwards against a crate. Before I could move, an arrow struck me in the shoulder, pinning me to the crate.  
Star stepped forward and said, "Sorry, but you will understand later." She reached out and grabbed my head, as she let electricity crackle out her claws and down my frame.  
Before the world went dark, I saw her turn and say something to someone out of my sight, "Why do we always do this?"  
  
Well there's chapter2, I'm planning on putting in a bunch of bots in the next chapter, and so if you didn't send me any, now would be a good time too.  
  
And I'm still looking for another proofreader; Mermul just doesn't have that much free time. So if you want to help me out I'm at, cockpitdude2002@yahoo.com  
  
later 


	3. Where am I?

The usual disclaimer: Ok. I don't own medabots; I would like it if I did. Then again some other authors would try to take them from me so maybe I wouldn't.  
  
Here is the next chapter it. Seams like I haven't given Ex much of a personality, but I think I have a reason for that, but with my head, who knows.  
  
Review reply - Spectral Vengeance, thanks for the review and the bot.  
  
C3) Where am I?  
  
"That's the strangest thing I ever saw." I wasn't awake but I could hear what was going on. I think I might be in a medawatch.  
  
"What's strange about it? It looks like a Kawaga head and leg parts and Fox arms. Do they have any mods?" The voices where talking about medaparts.  
  
"I was talking about his medal its..." the voices just stopped, along with all the other sounds. I was having trouble thinking; all I could guess is that I was removed from the watch. With my thoughts moving so slow and without any reference, time wasn't moving.  
  
I was coming back to awareness, returning to my own body. "Ex, are you ok?" Star was leaning over me. She turned to someone out of view and asked, "Is something wrong with him? It shouldn't take him this long to reboot." My body took control, snapping my arm out across her face. I then rolled of the table and looked around. I was in a large cavern, part of an old subway tunnel. It was full of tents and huts made from old junk, some of them where large and rather fancy while others were barely-standing mound of garbage.  
  
The corner of the cavern I occupied was full of crates and large machines; it must have been a medabot hospital. Star stood up with a pair of gashes across her faceplate. I looked down at my dual bladed arms; the voices had been talking about me. My legs, and probably my head, where painted mostly dark blue with back accents. My arms where orange and red at the shoulder and wrist but a light gray otherwise.  
  
Star walked around the table and came forward slowly, "Ex. Calm down, everyone here goes through this. It's to protect you and us." She held out her hands as I backed away. She was trying to keep herself as my focus, off to my right a crab medabot charged out from behind a computer. I ducked under his outreached claw-hand and ran the other direction. A car type was coming from that direction; I ignored it until it tuned toward me. They where trying to catch me. and my body still wanted to get away. I leapt into the air, landing on the car medabot and started to spin back to attack the crab. I turned, just to be hit off the car and land on my back. The bar labeled 'head' dropped twenty-two points.  
  
I rolled away from Star as she tried to grab me. Climbing to my feet I start to back away again as the car medabot transforms and points its launchers at me. Star and the crab begin to circle around. They had me trapped into backing away, but I didn't know why they wanted me to. I couldn't look away from the car incase he fired. I don't know how but my body activated my radar, showing a panoramic picture in my mind. The image was colorless and fuzzy, and it displayed a bot flying in behind me.  
  
I turned and leapt upward, arm drawn back to slash the dark noctobat. The bat swerved aside and released a swarm of missiles at me as my leap carried me past. *BOOM* My radar dissolved into static before disappearing totally, and my vision was full of colored blotches. The voice was back and saying something about damage and optical overload. My sight returned quickly and the ringing in my head stopped in time for me to hear the end of a conversation, "... leave him alone Hunter. You did the same thing when you got here." Star was between where I was laying and where the noctobat was floating.  
  
He didn't seam like a happy bot. "If he tries that again, I'll crush his tinpet myself," he mumbled before flying away. A few bots had gathered near one of the bigger huts and were talking to themselves, the car and crab medabots went over and a discussion started. Star was looking to where Hunter had disappeared behind a bend of tunnel.  
  
I realized I was in control of myself again so I tried to stand up. My leg jammed under me causing me to fall again. Looking at my stats bar, I saw that they where low. My arm was discolored and wouldn't move. Star pulled me to my feet and helped me back to the table I was laying on. She was fixing my leg when a blue raccoon bot using a hammerfist rushed over, and articulated out his message: "The Professor wants to talk to the new guy ASAP."  
  
He ran off just as quickly he came. Star looked at me for a moment. "I wonder why he wants to see you," she pondered aloud, and went back to fixing my parts. I was still too busy trying to sort out my thoughts to care about that.  
  
My body had taken control and acted on its own, but moved and reacted slower than normal. It had done this back at George's when I ran away. During my fight with Hunter, I could hear parts of thoughts that weren't mine, and none of them made any sense.  
  
My contemplations ended when a large spark leapt from my leg to Star's hand, making her jump back and curse. Upon looking back at me she looked puzzled, "Didn't that hurt?" When I shook my head, she got a small device from under the table and pressed it to my leg. "That should have hurt a little." She moved it to my chest and studied the numbers on the small screen, "Touch, damage, pain, environmental sensors ... they all are working. Do you have a high pain tolerance?" I couldn't answer so I didn't say anything. She muttered something and closed the panel on my leg and slapped a regeneration pad to my arm.  
  
"You're going to have to learn some things if you want to stay here." Star was talking as she lead me through the maze of a medabot city. The city was very large and wasn't as rundown as it looked from the outside. From the outskirts, none of the buildings looked more than two or three stories (A/N: this is on a medabot scale. A human story is between 7 and 8 feet, medabot stories would be around 5 or 6) tall, but really the tunnel sloped downward in the center letting the ones in the center get to at least six stories.  
  
Star walked down the ally like streets without pause. I was almost lost a few times because of the lack of street signs. It was also a very crowded place making me wonder how many bots lived here. Star stopped at a door tucked into a corner. "Most bots here go topside to either work or scavenge for cash and supplies. This is the only real medabot city in the world - there are other towns and groups, but none on this scale. Many of the bots here came from all over the world."  
  
She went in the door and down the hallway inside. "No human has ever seen this place. They can't; they would capture and probably dismantle us and all we have built." She stopped at the last door and looked at me. "NO human can ever know about this city, they can't." I didn't think that would happen but it seamed like a matter best left alone. Star looked at me for a moment before going in the door without knocking.  
  
Inside the room every surface was covered with charts and diagrams, even the few computer terminals had screens cluttered with data. All of it was about medabots in some way - there was even an enlarged construct of a medal.  
  
The 'Professor' was studying a set of computer printouts as we walked in. He reminded me of Doctor Boc Choy (A/N: somebody tell me what kind of bot he is) but the arms where altered to let his tinpet hands show. He must have been very old because his parts where almost totally faded and he moved with creaking slowness. Star had to pound on the desk to get his attention, "Professor, you wanted to talk to Ex?" He honestly looked confused.  
  
He put down his papers and looked at Star and me for a moment before shaking his head, "I didn't ask to speak to anyone. I called for a medal that was found the other day. There must have been a mistake."  
  
Now Star was confused, "We haven't found any new medals, not in a week or so. And Ex is the only bot that came in yesterday."  
  
The Professor shock his head and went over to one of his terminals for a moment. He came back to his desk muttering about something, "It couldn't be...." After a moment he looked up at me with a stare that could cut stone, "Would you open your medal compartment." Even if he asked it his gaze made it a command.  
  
With all my self-restraint I didn't run, I turned and opened my medal hatch. Star gasped and the Professor was muttering again. Looking back over my shoulder I asked, "What's wrong with my medal?" The Professor fumbled in a drawer for a moment before lifting a camera and snapping a photo. I closed my hatch and grabbed the photo from his hands. I looked at it for a moment before looking back up at him. He nodded before I could even ask, 'is this my medal?'  
  
Go ahead hate me. But cliffhangers seam real popular among authors. So now you know what Ex looks like and I think I filled in some of his personality. You can probably guess where I am going with this.  
  
Side note if you email me any bots or medafighters make sure to put medabots or something noticeable in the subject so I don't delete it with my junk mail. Cockpitdude2002@yahoo.com  
  
Later,  
the MAD-MAN 


	4. how and why?

Ok, I'm back with more "Riddles of Fate." Sorry about the delay, but I got sidetracked. I don't own medabots; some bots aren't mine, some are - I'll list them all later. And as far as I know, I first thought of the medabot city.  
  
Review reply-  
  
C4) How and why?  
  
I couldn't believe it. But I had to: it was right in front of me. My medal was cracked, or rather was at some point. A jagged line of silver ran from the top almost straight down, through the gem and splitting into smaller branches. Even a few missing chips had been replaced with silver. I could see the beetle imprint, meaning that I was well experienced before my medal had shattered.  
  
"How is his medal... like that?" Star sounded more distressed than I was.  
  
The professor rolled over to a different computer terminal and printed out some papers. Coming back, he said, "Someone well studied in the actual workings of medals would have had to fix his, sorry, your medal." He snatched the photo back. "This work is very old, and your medal is even older. The fact that they tried to fix your gem shows that it was during some of the earlier medal research."  
  
"Why wouldn't they try to fix my gem?" I was getting over the shock pretty fast.  
  
"The gems inside medals are still a bit of a mystery, even the Medabot Corporation hasn't been able to unlock more than a fraction of their secrets. The gem holds the personality of the medabot. And many people clam that is where the soul is held. You see, it took researchers like Dr. Hoshi and Dr. Aky years to even begin to understand the technology inside the gems. Even the newest medals on the market are slow compared to the speed of rare medals," he explained, going over to a cabinet and retrieving a thick folder.  
  
He set the folder in front of me and continued, "The technology inside rare medals is currently beyond what we are capable of. In almost twenty years the speed of today's manufactured medals has only increased to thirty percent of the speed possible in rare medals." The folder was full of charts and reports on the compared speed of new medals and rare medals.  
  
"Professor. Ex's battle speed is rather slow and he doesn't feel pain even with functional sensors." Star was lashing her tail back and forth, she honesty seamed concerned.  
  
"I lose control of my body during battles," responded Ex. "It's like someone else is in command. It did this in the battle earlier with Hunter and the others." The Professor didn't seam surprised at this information but Star's tail started going faster.  
  
"Yes, that sounds about right. You see..." he picked up the model medal and placed it on top of the folder. He removed the top layer showing the layout of its circuits, "... the area of a medal that processes pain is here." He pointed to some circuits near the bottom of the medal, where mine was shattered and missing pieces.  
  
He then ran his fingers around the closely packed circuits around the gem, "The matter of losing control in battle and battle speed is a bit harder to explain. The area around the gem is for switching into different lines of processing. When your medal was repaired whoever did it made a mistake. They did something to force your learning process to be stuck open; this is what many medabots call think mode. It is for everyday occurrences and has a higher amount of power than battle mode."  
  
He laid the photo back down on top of the model, "When a medabot enters a battle the learning part slows down and the battle circuits start up. The battle circuits aren't as powerful but they have to be faster, even on a slower kind of medal. The problem is that your entering a battle subconsciously - you are in control, you just don't know it."  
  
I took the photo as he continued to speak, "Your speed is slowed because you are still using the full power of you learning circuits. I don't know if there is anything to be done about it. But I have a question for you now." I looked up, suppressing the urge to scream at him. "Do you have any memory's that aren't yours? Perhaps strange emotions?"  
  
"Yes, memories that aren't mine. I can't see them - it's like they hide behind a wall of fog or ice." I forced my hand to stop shaking. "I have lots of different emotions pushing me to do something but I don't know what."  
  
I couldn't remain still any longer; I headed out the door ignoring the Professor calling me back. I made it to the ally outside the building before Star could catch up, "What's the matter..." I was holding my head in pain. It felt like all the earth above me was trying to enter my mind. The pain was thumping like the beat of drums.  
  
I turned to her and forced the words past the pain, "I need to get out of here. I need air."  
  
She looked at me and shook her head, "You don't breathe..." She stopped as she looked into my eyes, "This way."  
  
She guided me down trough the heart of the city. Even as confused as I was I saw the markets selling everything from parts to armor, there where even a few sleazy oil bars and music clubs. Soon after we passed the edge of the city, we came to a set of solid gates blocking a few different sized tunnels. Star talked to the guard and I tried to hold back my pain.  
  
The guard wrote in a book my name and number, 18553.3. The number seamed to surprise both him and Star but neither said anything. He then gave us each a small hexagon-shaped device. Star opened her medal hatch and placed it over her medal. As I did the same I placed the photo under my hatch.  
Star told me that the device kept our medals from ejecting and increased our healing capabilities. I didn't care - I had to get out of this hole in the ground. I pushed past the guard and ran into the tunnels. Stars voice followed me for a while but soon fell behind.  
  
I don't know how long I ran. I was overheating and my servos where rubbing, making the tunnels echo. I tripped and fell against the wall; finally, I looked at my surroundings. I was out of the medabot tunnels and into the sewer system right below the surface. Across the tunnel was a ladder leading to a manhole cover.  
  
I climbed the ladder and pushed the lid away. Pulling myself over the edge, I saw a car coming toward me at high speed. I was fully expecting to be hit. Instead, someone grabbed me and jumped to the sidewalk. I rested for a moment while my savior replaced the manhole cover.  
  
He helped me to my feet, "You should be more careful and avoid the streets. And if you don't mind, why where you in the sewers?" He was a kawaga type, and he wore a white silk cape.  
  
I started walking away. I was at the corner before part of me made me turn back, "I was lost."  
  
I turned to leave just to be knocked aside by an older bronze colored kaboto medabot. "Yo, Rocusho. You still owe me a robattle," he skidded to a stop in front of Rocusho.  
  
"Perhaps later. Metabee. First I must help this medabot who you knocked over," Metabee turned to me as I was getting up.  
  
He came over and offered his hand, "Hi. I'm Metabee and that's Rocusho. So what do you need help with?" I didn't take his hand, something about these two bots felt different.  
  
"My name is Ex and I don't shake," Metabee grew agitated while Rocusho took this chance to walk away.  
  
"What? Think you're too good to shake my hand. I could wipe you out in one Metabee bopping," steam started shooting from his missal launchers, it was so funny that I couldn't help but laugh.  
  
'KIKIKIKIKIKIKI', he started firing his lasers at me. I took off running but he was right behind me firing away.  
  
A few blocks later he was still chasing me and I had to force myself not to turn and fight him. My temp was still high from earlier and from what the Professor said I wouldn't be good in a fight against anyone.  
  
We where passing a school when a dark haired boy in shorts and a red shirt jumped out and grabbed Metabee. I stopped and watched as their fighting stirred up a cloud of dust. "This happens a lot. They will be at that for a while," a girl in purple coveralls had come up behind me.  
  
Her medabot, a sailor type, was holding her backpack, "This is Miss Erica and I'm Brass. Those two are Masters Ikky and Metabee."  
  
Erica took her backpack from Brass, "So who are you and why was Metabee chasing you?" She had produced a tablet and looked at me like a hungry hawk.  
  
I turned back to watch the fight, "My name is Ex. I laughed at him and he started chasing me." I turned back when a flash went off, Brass had a camera and was taking a few photos of me.  
  
"Where are you from? Who is your medafighter? And what are you doing around here?" Erica had her pen moving rapidly across her tablet.  
  
"I grabbed the roll of film as Brass was handing it to Erica, "I'm not from anywhere. I don't have a medafighter. I wasn't doing anything. And I don't like cameras." I smashed the film into the ground and stomped it flat.  
  
"You don't have a medafighter? What, you another medabum?" Metabee didn't even finish speaking before my blades cut a pair of gouges across his chest, his medal ejected. I didn't even realize I had done it until I saw Ikky grab his medal.  
  
Ikky looked at Metabee's body and then at the oil dripping from my blades. He picked up Metabee's body but before he left he glared at me, "I want a robattle latter." He walked off, dripping oil as he went.  
  
I looked at Erica, she grabbed Brass's arm and started to run. She shouted back, "I'll get my story. You can't hide your secrets forever."  
  
I looked at the school and thought, 'maybe they couldn't hide forever.'  
  
I was still looking at the school sorting my thoughts when Star came up beside me, "You shouldn't stand in the open - you might get challenged to a robattle. You sure can run when you want too, you where gone by the time I even got halfway out. Let's head back..."  
  
A girl and two boys walked up to us. I saw them earlier while they were running laps as a large man shouted at them. I thought they would have left by now. The girl had brown hair done in some strange version of pigtails. The boys where almost opposite of each other. One was tall and thin with spiky hair and was real pale. The other was short and round with a dark tan.  
"You two get your medafighters, I challenge them to a robattle" the girl was obviously in charge. She pressed a button on her medawatch, as did the boys. After the light diminished, they placed in the bots medals. The girl's bot was a red cat type while the boys had a new dog type and a tortoise type.  
  
After a moment the tall boy asked the girl, "Boss, where are their medafighters?"  
  
Star didn't wait, "RUN!" She was off and disappearing in shadows almost immediately. I turned back to the kids who where trying to understand what just happened.  
  
The girl looked at me and grinned, "It doesn't matter; we still have this one. Get your medafighter NOW."  
  
"I don't have a medafighter and I don't want to robattle." At this the girl grinned once more and the boys shot glances at each other.  
  
The girl let off a laugh that chilled the oil in my parts and made the boys draw back a step, "That is fine with me. Because now we can take all your parts and no one can say anything." Her laugh was very cold, but it made a memory start to come past the fog.  
  
I had to ignore it as the cat chose then to attack. She came in slashing and trying to get a grip on me. I had to hold myself back; if I tried to fight, I would most assuredly lose. Instead, I thought of it as a dance, bringing a fresh memory to mind. A fancy ballroom full of people, I was standing on a balcony as men and women glided across the floor in perfect unison.  
  
"Peppercat," the girl called back the feline, interrupting my memory. A powerful laser grazed my shoulder, burning a hole.  
  
"Now, Crosserdog!" The dog type began firing at me. I barely had to move as none of the shots came within a foot of me. Peppercat decided to press her attack as I turned toward him.  
  
She dashed in behind me but was stopped by Star falling on her from the school wall. Star flung her away, "You just don't listen. Hold off those two; I'll deal with the housecat." She didn't waste any time, leaping at Peppercat.  
  
I looked back. The tortoise had moved in closer, trying to hit me with a powerful blast. I didn't hold back, but rather focused my thoughts on my attack. His visor brightened a moment before I drove my blade into his face. Something exploded in smoke, but under the noise I could hear the sound of a medal hitting the earth. "Totalizer?!"  
  
As the wind carried the smoke away I looked to the catfight. Electricity wouldn't hurt either of them so it was a contest of claws. Peppercat already had several gaping holes in her armor, while Star merely had a few scratches. I removed my claws from Totalizer's smoking armor and walked toward Crosserdog.  
  
I wasn't sure, but I believe his legs started to shake. I was confident I could finish him, given his horrible aim. I tackled him to the ground and drew back to strike. I was thrown backward as he started firing point blank, even he couldn't miss. My arms stopped functioning almost immediately.  
  
I would have stopped functioning if it hadn't been for Star. Peppercat's body was thrown into Crosserdog. Before he could get out from under it, Star landed on his shoulders and let electricity flow through his head.  
  
She hissed at the boy as he reached for the medal. After she leapt away, she jumped to my side and griped my arm. As we ran away I heard, "You haven't heard the last of the Screws!"  
  
When she finally stopped pulling me, we were in the backyard of someone's house. She spun me around to face her, "If I tell you to run, you run. Humans don't care about wild medabots. They would steal our parts or worse. Now, next time listen to me."  
  
I didn't think all humans were like that, but the fight did prove some were. The stat bars for my arms had some health again. I tried to move my arm. There was a loud grinding sound. She griped my shoulder and looked at the hole left from the fight. She poked it with a finger, "You have to be more careful, and since you don't feel pain so you won't know if you have a serious injury. This is right down to your servo; if you move it to much you could damage your tinpit. We can get it fixed nearby."  
  
We headed back towards the school but kept to the shadows, avoiding the gaze of potential adversaries. We got to the back loading dock of a small store; she tapped lightly twice. A very dark bronze kaboto type opened the door. He had some large scars in his armor from what had to have been serous damage. He gave me the same feeling that Metabee and Rocusho did.  
  
He looked at us but didn't say a word as he let us in. Star pushed me towards a workbench, "Sit there, I need to talk to Henry." She went to a door and scratched lightly, a light beside the door blinked. She went into the other room.  
  
The scared bot was digging in several boxes that were on shelves; he brought a motor like servo object to the bench as I sat down. He stood on the only stool and started working on my shoulder. He had the armor off in moments followed by burnt wires and a damaged servo.  
  
He was installing the new one as Star came back with a dark haired teenager wearing an apron. I assumed he was Henry, "So, got a new refugee... You're not a refugee, you ran from your medafighter." The scared bot snapped the armor closed over my shoulder and placed the barrel of his revolver against my chest.  
  
Star just stood there for a moment, "You ran away?" She took a step toward me, she looked like she was ready to sob. For a moment she gazed into my eyes before turning and running out the door.  
  
I couldn't understand why she was upset; I wanted to go after her. But I couldn't with a gun pressed to my chest. The scared bot pressed harder, "Rouge."  
  
Henry came over and forced the bots arm down, "maybe not." He looked at me, "Why did you run?"  
  
I had to force myself past the rising tide of conflicting emotions. They both stood silently as I thought, "It's wrong to have a medafighter when you're already dead." I reached back and removed the photo from my medal hatch and handed it to Henry.  
  
I pushed back the scared bot and got down from the workbench. The bot moved to grab me but Henry stopped him, "Let him go Arkbeatle. He needs to find answers."  
  
I went out the door and stopped. I didn't know the way back to the medabot city or even how I could find out. I started wandering down back streets and alleys. It was dark when I came to the park.  
  
I climbed into the tallest tree and watched as the stars began to dot the sky. I thought out loud so I could hear over the ghostly memories, "My questions are like the stars..." "One answered. But countless left." Rocusho was in a higher branch. The rest of the night we watched the stars and moon turn across the sky.  
  
Ok, that worked well. Let me know what you think about it so far, and feel free to guess what happens next. I think you will be surprised. 


	5. who can anser?

Ok, here is chapter 5; I think this fic is turning out pretty well. Do you? As always I don't own medabots, I am not writing this fic for any resion other than having fun. Sueing me will only put you in dept.  
  
Warning: this chapter has very slight gore/death (not any of the main chariters) and it even deppresed me a little when I was in a very good mood.  
  
In the last chapter Ex found out his medal was broken at one time and then repaired. He survived a robattle with Stars help, but, when he went to get repaired, he got in an argument with Henry.  
  
What will happen to him next? Read to discover....  
  
C5) Who can answer?  
  
The warmth of the rising sun woke me from my slumber. Looking up I saw that Rocusho was gone already. People were already passing through the park on the way to wherever. I closed my eyes and tried to sort out the memories I had been having.  
  
---- Mean While ----  
  
"It can't be," muttered a white haired balding man in a lab coat and sunglasses, stood in a dark room. The room was full of glass cylinders full of liquid, each one lit with a bright light that oddly didn't show more than a few feet. In many of them floated medals.  
  
A man stepped into the light. He wore a spandex suit and a red scarf, his face covered with a golden mask. He handed over a photo, "Dr., it is."  
  
The Dr. just stood there looking at the photo. "Bring him here now," his voice shook with half hidden emotion.  
  
---- Back with Ex ----  
  
I was still trying, unsuccessfully to sort out half remembered memories when Hunter landed on a branch above me. He swung upside down, "I had you pegged wrong. Here I thought you where one of those 'Oh help me my medafighter left me.'" He laughed for a while Through his laughter he spoke again, "Here you, haha, you ran off before you could be dumped. Haha HA!"  
  
He just hung there and laughed for a while. He finally stopped laughing, "Come on. We need to get back before the rain floods the tunnels. He dropped from his branch and began to fly off. I looked after him not really wanting to go back under ground but needing to talk to Star.  
  
I dropped from my branch, and hurried to catch up to Hunter. When I did, he started talking about nonsense. From his inane chatter I gathered that you could find entrance to the city by searching near storm drains. They where hidden inside where no one ever went, but if any heavy rain started, the tunnels would become flooded and had to be sealed to prevent the destruction of the city.  
  
I took a last look at the growing storm clouds before entering the storm drain. This path was a short one and we where at the gates in minutes. Hunter flew off without checking with the guard. As I was singing back in, another guard told me I was supposed to wait here. I really didn't have anywhere else to go so I just sat down at some nearby tables to wait.  
  
Star came riding up in a small go-cart along with a shark type. I got up and walked over as she climbed out. I watched as the shark drove away. When I turned back I was konked on by behind. Star was standing with her fist raised, "That was for making me worry." She helped me get up, "Sorry 'bout that I just... so how are you."  
  
"I'm fine," we walked into the city in an uncomfortable silence. Star bought us each a can of oil from a small vender. We continued to walk on through the city and out the other side, still in silence. We stopped when we finally reached the cavern wall.  
  
We sat down on some old crates. I couldn't say silent any longer, "Why did it bother you so much when you learned that I ran away from my medafighter?" She looked out along the wall for a while, pain clear on her face.  
  
I was ready to apologize for upsetting her when she spoke, "Jun, my medafighter. She died. She was like my sister." She looked into my eyes, but looked away like something there worried her. "We had been together for only a few years. She was killed in a car accident. I was right there with her but I survived, pined by the twisted car while she," her voice cracked "she bleed to death. She was only twelve; I would have given my medal to save her. I tried to stay with her family for a while but they forced me to leave, they said I reminded them of her too much."  
  
She looked back at me almost choking with her grief, "I lost my medafighter, my friend, MY Sister. And you ran away from your chance to have that. You gave up what half of the medabots in this city would die for. That is why I'm upset. I just don't understand why you ran."  
  
I looked at her and for the first time I wasn't confused, "I didn't give any of that up." I raised my hand to stop her from objecting. "I never had a chance to have that. From the moment I was activated I knew, somehow, that I had already had that once. That I had lost it. I knew, I just knew, that I was already dead." I put my hand over her mouth plate to silence her. "There isn't any other way to describe it. The only way a medabot can die is by its own will, powering down for eternity. Or to have their medal destroyed."  
  
I removed my hand from her mouth plate and continued as she sat in stunned silence, "There are only two reasons that I keep myself activated. One is that I need to know why someone tried to fix my medal."  
  
I fell silent as the second reason hit me; I was so concerned about the first that the second was noticed but not relized. Star spoke while I tried to remember when I relized the second fact, "What is the other reason?"  
  
I looked at her with a whole range of new emotions, "It's you. I need to find out what you mean to me. SilverStar, you mean something to me that I don't fully understand."  
  
She reached out for me; we came together in heartfelt embrace. After a moment we reilized each other, she looked at me, her eyes glowing with happiness. She griped my had where it rested on the crate, "We should go back to the city."  
  
I squeezed her hand once before getting up, "Star, I'm sorry to put you through so much troble. BlueSky I ... AARRG" my medal shook with a stabing pain as a memory so strong I could see nothing else. I was sitting on a fallen log with a jet type (think 'Femjet'). She was blue with silver highlights. I remebered her name was BlueSky, she liked being called Sky by her freands though. We were talking and laughing about something. I could almost hear it but the memory faded from me, leaving me lying on the ground with star nealing beside me.  
  
I sat up and looked at Star, she had her hands on my shoulders, she asked, "What was that? Is something wrong?"  
  
I stood and took a few steps awayfrom her, "It was a memory. My memory but one from before my medal was shatered." I slamed my fist down on one of the crates sending splinters into the air. "I'm not me, I never will be. I'll always be him and never know who he is. I have so many questions but so few answers."  
  
She turned me around and griped my shoulders, "Maybe not always. We can get help; talk to the Professer and he'll find a way to help you."  
  
The next few days I spent in the Professer's lab. Countless tests; hours trapped in machines. I would have run at many times if it weren't for Star. Every time I looked at her, I knew she wouldn't leave me be. And now I was beginning to have brief flashes of BlueSky. Making me wonder who I had these feelings for - Star or Sky?  
  
The Professer finaly let me go, saying he had to study the data he gathered from me. It was a good thing becase the tunnles had finaly drained enough to let bots leave again. Star and I walked up through the muddy tunnles; she was going to show me some of the local sights. I was glad to be out from underground, but a little upset over missing the rain.  
  
We stoped by the river to rinse the mud from our parts. The river was murky, but the sky was clear and bright. We hadn't gotten out of sight of the river when fireworks went off. Once the smoke cleared, a man wearing spandex and a gloden mask was standing infront of us with a red and gold KBT mark two.  
  
The man struck a pose, "Rushing from the hevens like a falling star, I am Space Medafighter X." He struck another pose as a banner appeared behind him, showing a red 'X' over a stary background.  
  
The banner vanished just as quickly as it had appered. Star steped forward as SMX rased his medawatch, "What do you want?" her voice shook with fear, this made me wonder who this man could be if she was scared of him.  
  
The KBT took a step forward as he spoke, "I want him." The KBT's arm snapped upward. Shooting my knees before ether Star or I could move. I fell to the ground, holes through my knees. Star lept at the KBT trying to slash and shock him, but he mearly swatted her away like a fly.  
  
As I watched the battle, something in me began to stir. Star leapt forward to tear at his visor, but he once more thwarted her attack, catching her arms and throwing her aside. SMX spoke again, his voice sounding bland, "Arkbettle. The rising piller of fire, Unleash the Promance!" The bot had been charging his attack, even while he batted Star around.  
  
From his horns a ball off fire grew and launched. Time lost meaning as Star was hit. PAIN, pain beond any I'd felt before. I pulled at my medal as another image was layered over Star's body being consumed by flame. An image of Sky being crushed by tons of falling stone. A surge of energy, agony rising exponentially as the force surged into focus. "Medaforce!"  
  
Blackness passed befoe my eyes, when it passed SMX was running away with the destroyed body of Arkbettle. A new wash of backness covered me before the agonising pain pulled the world back into light. Between the rolling waves of pain and blackness, I crawled toward Star.  
  
I made it to her side and collapsed as darkness and pain took me; took me into a world of pain and agony.  
  
...... WOW! That has to be the best chapter so far. Well, review it and let me know what you think. And sorry this took so long, I was working on my digimon fic. And if anyone knows Dr. Aky's first name please let me know.  
  
And thanks to my fisrt profreader, Mermul. 


	6. C6 life is pain

As of when I typed this, no one reviewed chapter five; it's no surprise really - doesn't send alerts for replacing chapters. Maybe I should suggest that...  
  
I don't own medabots, but some characters belong to others and myself.  
  
Ok. Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea. Hunter belongs to Spetral - talk to him. SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, the Professor, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me, the MAD-MAN (AKA: Dwight). I've forgotten who sent me Gigabyte and Nick, but I'm sorry to say I can't use them in the story. At least not at this point...  
  
Some of those characters you may not know already, that's because they show up in this chapter. And I am looking for medabots once more, just medabots without medafighters, thanks. Email them to me at (be sure to put medabots in the topic), I will chose some of them and maybe (if you allow me) save some others for a spin-off of ROF (Riddles of Fate). That's the end of my chatter.  
  
In the last chapter the story got a little dark. Ex and Star had some emotional talk; Ex reveled some more of his own thoughts. Then, after a few days of testing his medal, Ex uses the medaforce to defeat Arkbettle, but something went wrong. What could happen next, read on to discover...  
  
C6) life is pain.  
  
Star woke with a start. She wasn't at home, but in a cluttered garage. She found herself lying on a table covered in tools and half repaired medaparts. Someone had fixed her. She looked around - broken and half repaired parts and tinpets where everywhere. There where boxes of components and circuits on shelves and large crates of unironed armor.  
  
Then she saw Ex; he was laying against a shelf of assorted servos. She tried to stand, only to fall off the table as her legs where too weak. While she pulled herself up by the table leg, she examined herself. She was in better repair than she had been for a while, but whoever fixed her was letting her energy recharge itself.  
  
Star wobbled over to Ex, almost falling a time or two. He was in good shape but his eyes - instead of the fiery red, they were just static. "Ex? Are you ok?... Ex!" Star reached out with a shaky hand. She griped Ex's shoulder and rolled him onto his side.  
  
Her mind just stopped working as she saw silver. Trails of silver ran down from under his medal hatch. Her hand reached out, almost by itself, and opened it. Her mind went into overdrive as she saw his medal. It was barley held together by thin drops and streaks of silver. The socket and some of the sounding components had been carefully repaired.  
  
The Professor had told her that Ex had a rare medal, he had discovered this during the testing. He also said that Ex shouldn't be put into any situation where he could use the medaforce. Simply because the metal used to repair his medal wouldn't be able to handle the power. And now Ex was gone, gone because she couldn't defeat Arkbeattle. Arkbeattle the number one ranked medabot in Japan.  
  
She sunk to the floor and began to sob, sob like she hadn't since the death of her medafighter. She closed his hatch and rested her head on his shoulder. She just lay there weeping, she was so sad that she didn't even hear the opening of a door and low voices.  
  
She jumped to her feet and spun around as a hand touched her shoulder. A young girl was kneeling beside her. The girl was tall and slender, looking much like a modal. She wore a long blue skirt that reached past her knees. The long sleeved shirt she wore was a light purple with fluffy white clouds. All this and her long, straight, hazel brown hair made her look almost thirteen but Star knew that she couldn't be more than nine or ten.  
  
The girl's face was soft and kind, but her brown eyes and flat smile told Star that the girl had lived a hard life. As the lights in the garage flickered to life, Star looked toward the doorway. Another girl stood there, she looked both the same and different from the first girl.  
  
The other girl was also tall but was much more muscular without being bulky. She wore stiff jeans and a gray t-shirt that had a vampire smiley face on it. Her hair was short and curly, trimmed close around her face and ears. Her hands were dark and calloused from work; she also looked much older than she was. This girl's face was hard as stone, and her green eyes held the look of someone defending their secrets at all costs.  
  
Star put herself between the girls and Ex, "Who are you and what do you want?" Star knew better than to trust anyone right away. She had heard of free medabots getting scraped far to often.  
  
The tough girl came into the garage, shutting the door behind her. Stars eyes drifted to the red and gray medawatch on her wrist. The first girl stood, light flashing from her blue and purple medawatch. She held out her hands, palms up, "I'm Leinda and her name is Jeniffer. We found you and your friend near the river; both of you were highly damaged. You had been burnt to a crisp while your friend..." her voice drifted off.  
  
Star couldn't stop herself as she turned and looked at Ex. She reached and touched his face plate. His unseeing eyes looked past her, and she sobbed again, "He's dead. He died because I couldn't protect him, because I wasn't strong enough." She lowered her head and just sobbed. (AN: medabots can't cry tears, at least I don't think they can)  
  
She jumped again as Leinda pulled her into a tight hug. Star stopped trying to pull away after a moment and let herself be comforted. When her sobs stopped, Jeniffer came forward and looked at Ex, "He isn't dead. Just comatose, he'll wake sooner or later." She looked at Star with those hard but warm eyes, "Now, what are your names and what exactly happened to you."  
  
---- In Ex's mind----  
  
Ex awoke to find himself in a vast circular room of green, a crooked silver wall cut the room in half. He knew where he was; this is where he came in his dreams. He was inside the gem of his medal.  
  
Every time he came here, all he could do was walk toward the silver wall. He could never do anything else. When he finally got to the wall, he would find a small jagged hole - an eyehole. He would look through the hole and see glimpses of his mysterious past, a glimpse he wouldn't remember after he woke.  
  
Something was different this time. The wall had large holes that he could see even from here and dark clouds floated around the room, sparking with energy. What really struck him as different was the fact he had control of himself. He turned and walked toward one of the closer clouds. He got within a few feet of the cloud but before he could touch it lighting flashed out, striking him. Pain, pain that was so common to these memories...  
  
His first sight was a room cluttered with toys and mechanical gizmos. He looked down at himself, his parts where old and faded, even rusty in some places. It appeared that he was once white and blue. His legs, head, and right arm where KWG (kwaga) parts. His left arm was also, except at the forearm - it ended not in a hand and hammer, but with a block of metal. There was a crude but sharp dagger welded there.  
  
The pain disappeared and Ex was laying on the green floor again. As he pulled himself back to his feet he looked across the room. The clouds where growing and drawing toward the center of the silver wall. Ex took a step forward ready to look for his answers, to take them even at the cost of pain.  
  
He reached the next cloud quickly, reaching out, placing his hand within. The sensation was like holding fire...  
  
He looked around the room again. Searching for who activated him, there he was, a lanky boy. He had strange, wild, white hair and small beady eyes. His face was stretched in a painfully wide smile. He wore a green shirt and denim pants. He must have been around eleven or twelve. He was holding a medawatch that was almost in as bad shape as my parts. "Hello," my voice was strong but cracked with static.  
  
"Wow! I didn't think the parts would work. I'm Eugene, but you can call me Gene. I can't think of a name for you, though." he flopped down on the floor and held his chin in thought.  
  
I looked down at my deformed left hand and its makeshift weapon, "How about Dagger?"  
  
He just sat there for a moment then leapt to his feet snapping his fingers, "I got it. I'll call you Dagger." He grabbed a wire brush and started removing the worst of the rust from my parts.  
  
Ex was back in the green room once more. He was on his knees struggling with the fading pain. His arm was blackened where he had touched the cloud. He looked for the next cloud but they where all at the center and outside of the vast room, none where near him. Ex tried to stand but was too weak; he sank to the ground again. He laid his head down to rest for a moment.  
  
--- Back in realty---  
  
Star had given the girls a brief, very brief, history of Ex, excluding the medabot city. Afterward, they moved into the comfy but mismatched living room, Star mentioned this as she laid Ex down beside her on a flowery loveseat. Leinda answered while Jeniffer went into the other room to make a phone call, "The four of us each helped pick the furniture."  
  
"Four? You mean you and your-?" Star asked while she placed Ex's head on her lap.  
  
"No, just Jeniffer and I with our medabots. We rent out the basement but only so we won't be bothered by social workers. I repair medaparts while Proximus and Adreastea, those are our medabots, work at a local medabot dojo. Jeniffer usually works for her sensei, training kendo students." Leinda's voice never seamed to rise in tone or pitch, making her sound almost monotone; only the softness she spoke with kept her from sounding like a computer.  
  
"What about your parents?" Star was more interested in Ex's condition than the conversation, that's why she missed Leinda's eyes and face take on a cold sad look.  
  
Before Leinda could compose herself to answer, Jennifer came back into the room. She answered like she was listing to the conversation, "Leinda is an orphan and my stepfather tossed me out when my mom died."  
  
The silence hung in the air like a heavy fog. It was shattered when Ex groaned in pain, his optics flashing back to their normal red. Then he was silent again and his optics faded back into static.  
  
---In Ex's mind---  
  
... he was walking next to Gene, they where heading to school. The city was full of people but there where very few medabots. the few there where were shiny and moved like new, Dagger couldn't help but be embarrassed. He had to be the worst looking bot around, especially since he saw his refection, the right side of his face and antenna where warped and twisted.  
  
Gene was always ready to do anything (like rintaro). Even while he walked to school he was talking and writing down ideas for new inventions. He even had a new design for a kabto medabot. It wasn't long before we got to the school.  
  
They waited outside of the gates because Gene wanted me to meet his friend. While they waited Dagger looked in at the kids, there where almost as many Medabots as kids. A lot of them where worse looking than he was; some however looked good, too good to have been fixed by kids. That's when he saw a flash of blue and silver, it was a jet type. She flew in and landed beside Gene, "Hello Gene. Miss Kari will be here in a moment.  
  
Dagger stared at her from behind Gene, he thought she was beautiful. Dagger felt more self-conscious of his parts than ever. He tried to hide behind Gene but Gene grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around in front of him, "BlueSky, this is Dagger." Dagger's circuits grew warm, he was sparred saying anything by a girl running up to them.  
  
"Hey, Gene. Wow, is this your medabot?" apparently this was Kari.  
  
She was wearing cutoff jeans and a dark navy blue sleeveless shirt. She wore tight black fingerless gloves that contrasted with her chrome medawatch. She had a cute round face that just held a smile that was doubled by the look of friendliness in her light brown eyes. Her hair seamed out of place with her face though, it didn't go down past her neck and was an alarming shade of black.  
  
Gene smile got even wider, "Yes. Kari, this is Dagger. I just finished fixing him last night." Kari knelt beside me and looked me over, I tried stepping back but Gene still had a grip on my shoulders.  
  
She looked up at Gene, "How did you get to the old ruins? Your parents wouldn't let you go, that's for sure." He just blushed and lowered his head, mumbling something Dagger couldn't hear. Kari seamed to know what he said though, "You went without them knowing."  
  
Gene raised his head, his smile was weak like a kicked puppy, "No. I told them a friend had brought the parts back for me, and they knew I had the medal - everyone knew I had the medal. I've had Dagger's medal since before I can remember. You won't tell on me, right?" he looked scared as she scrunched up her face in thought.  
  
She stood up smiling and put her arm around Gene's shoulder, "I won't tell but you owe me."  
  
Gene released me but Sky pulled me aside, "He is going to be sorry the day she calls in all of the times she saved him. He can't go a week without owing her something." only Gene wasn't laughing as we all went into the school yard, but he did have a smile on his face...  
  
Everything faded to static and then green. Ex sat up; he was once more back in the green room. One of the clouds had passed over him while he rested. His body was blackened from head to toe. His parts ached and he was far more tired than before his rest. Most of the clouds were now one large bank of dark fog.  
  
He tried to stand, barely managing a few steps before collapsing back to the ground. "I won't surrender," the first words he spoke here, he could feel them echo like thunder around the massive room. Finally, as they began to quiet, a wisp of fog came snaking back toward him from the dark fog bank...  
  
"I will not surrender!" Dagger stood in front of Gene, his parts damaged and weak. Before him was a pair of identical red and brown raccoon type medabots. The only difference was shallow cuts and gashes he had given them, almost laughable damage to their armor. Dagger had been fighting hard but they where just too tough, their armor too thick.  
  
Gene was pale with fear, as a team we had never been so close to losing. The other boy, the opposing medafighter, he seamed so plain. Lightly tanned skin dark hair average height for being fourteen. Even his cloths where unremarkable, it was his eyes that made him stand out. His eyes where an icy blue so bright and at the same time so cold and unfeeling.  
  
He smiled, it was a friendly smile until you looked into his eyes then it was just cruel. He gave a light laugh, "Don't you understand, it doesn't matter if you surrender. Bash and Smash will grind you into the dust."  
  
Gene lowered his medawatch, "I surrender." Dagger turned back to him shocked. "I'm sorry Dagger but this way you won't be hurt anymore."  
  
Dagger looked from Gene to the cold look in the other boy's eyes. He became angry, "I will NOT surrender to him or any other. Gene, giving up would hurt me more than these two coons ever could." Dagger forced his arms to raze into an attack position, "Besides, we are a team. Surrender goes by vote."  
  
Dagger drew himself up, light reflecting from his chipped sword. "I vote NO!" he leapt forward, into the battle once more. Ready to fight to the end...  
  
Ex found himself standing in a fighting stance, his parts where sparkling like new and he wasn't tired. The green room was pulsing with energy and the dark fogbank was filled with flashes of inner turmoil. He began walking once more, toward the center of his medal, toward his forgotten past.  
  
As he grew closer the fog bank shrank, condensing into a smaller and smaller shape, strobing with lightning. When he was within a few yards of the darkening shape, he realized that it was forming. Forming into something he wasn't expecting, something he should fear.  
  
Ok, when I wrote this it seamed a little weak, but as with everything I write it changed dramatically as I typed it. It isn't my best chapter but it doesn't look bad. What do YOU think? Five points to anyone who guesses who Gene is, well anyone I didn't email about it. They already got a lot of points. And I'm sorry if you got confused with all that memory/vision deal. It's not horrible but it would look better in a movie or show. I'm sorry about the time this took, but I hate typing. So I end up writing a couple chapters before I can force myself to sit-down and type. If anybody has or knows where I can get a hands free typing program for free let me know, please? As always, thanks to my first proofreader, Mermul.  
  
I am still looking for a new proofreader - Mermul is going off to collage soon. He won't have as much, if any, free time to work on these. If you have some time and would like to help me, even if you can only help with a chapter or two, let me know at it would be greatly appreciated. 


	7. C7 New Riddles

Hello, everybody. I'm back with another chapter; I hope I can keep this one at a minimum of confusion. Ok, I think I'm beginning to understand where this story is going, but my brain never tells me anything. I have some weird ideas for this story, but I don't know if I can use some of them. Ok, for anyone who didn't guess who Gene is... keep waiting.

I don't own medabots, but some characters belong to others, and myself.

Ok. Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea. Hunter belongs to Spetral. SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, the Professor, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me, the MAD-MAN. That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

I am looking for medabots once more, just medabots without medafighters, thanks. Email them to me at (be sure to put medabots in the topic), I will chose some of them and maybe (if you allow me) save some others for a spin-off of ROF (Riddles of Fate). And I ask that anyone who sends me original bots to give them detailed descriptions of how they look. From now on for every one custom, purely fan designed medabot I use I will use three medabots from the game, show, or comics. I'm doing this so I don't end up with a story packed with custom bots. So, if you like, you can send in your special bot or you can chose a type of bot you saw on the show, recolor it give it a summarized personality and a history. This means that the more custom bots I get without any ordinary ones the less likely you are to see your custom ones. This doesn't apply to anything I've already received. And before I forget, please include what type of medal your medabots have (devil, kabto, mermaid...), and, yes, you can choose if your medabot has a rare medal. If it turns up or gets used is up to how the story goes.

That was about half a page of stuff some of you (you know who you are) will never pay attention to.

In the last chapter Star meet her saviors, but found Ex was in a deep coma (sounds like a soap opera). While Star was talking to the two strange girls, Ex was trapped in his mind, his gem, living memories of his old life; living a normal medabot's life as Dagger. What is this going to do to him, read to find out....

C7.) New Riddles

Ex was standing near the silver wall that divided the circular green room that was his medal's gem. He wasn't standing for lack of anything better to do; he was standing there frozen with fear.

The clouds of memory, his lost memories, where condensing into the form of the old him. Into Dagger. The original him, the brave welder of sword and dagger, the great fighter. Versus the copy, the weakling, the pacifist, the walking dead. Ex had little hope he could survive a battle against Dagger. If it resorted to a fight, it would be of blades and minds, a battle for life.

The cloud finished transforming, finally turning white and faded blue. He was just like the memories, even the deformed face and crudely rebuilt left arm. Dagger's eyes lit up with the same fiery red in Ex's. Dagger looked around the room, his gaze resting briefly on the silver wall before stopping on the other bot. Ex steeled his will and stood ready, even then he wasn't ready for the attack.

Dagger leapt, taking Ex to the ground and pinning him there. Ex felt the tip of a blade pressed to his neck, as Dagger snarled, "Who are you and why are you in my mind?"

The question was a surprise to Ex; he had assumed that because he could see Dagger's memories that Dagger could see his. Dagger pushed the blade a bit firmer, prompting an answer, "I'm Ex..." He had no idea how to explain his, or their, situation when he wasn't sure what had caused it in the fist place. "How I got here is a long story, one that revolves around something that happened to you."

Ex felt, most disturbingly, what Dagger was thinking. Dagger's thoughts were troubled, 'Who is this dark bot and why dose he seam so familiar? Something strange is going on. Why can't I remember what happened to me?' Like the stab of a knife a memory passed into Ex's mind, but unlike others it brought no pain...

Dagger was with BlueSky, it was a few days after his surprise victory over the twin raccoon types. Sky often wandered around the city or forest while Kari and Gene where in school, and Dagger would often walk with her. They were fast becoming great friends, even closer than Gene and Kari. Today they had gone deep into the forest, talking about the weather or flowers, even what rumors where going around the schoolyard. They stopped and sat down on a fallen log, holding each others hands...

Ex was snapped from the memory as Dagger leapt away trebling with shock. Dagger stopped shaking as Ex climbed to his feet, "What was that? I was you, running from your medafighter." Dagger was back in front of Ex in an instant, "That was _your_ memory. And you saw one of mine too, didn't you?"

His hand came up, trying to grab Ex, but Ex caught it with the same motion, surprising himself. He was so surprised that he miss Dagger's left hand sweeping in. The sharp edged blade cutting cleanly into Ex's upper arm. Ex felt the blade as pressure, but not pain. The blade was yanked out before it could cause more than superficial damage.

Dagger pulled away, staring at the cut on Ex's arm and rubbing his own arm, "What was that? It was like you cut me but you didn't." Dagger begin to walk around Ex. Ex began to move as well; both of them were soon circling each other.

Ex felt Dagger's thoughts brushing against his again, 'Who is this bot? The way he moves and stands are so familiar. His eyes hold such a bright glow, almost like mine only jagged. I just can't place where I've seen him before.'

Ex now knew that this battle wouldn't be as hard as he thought. It would be still be tricky, but Dagger didn't realize that Ex was, in a sense, him. Also, Dagger would feel damage to both of them. Ex also knew how Dagger fought, but to the same degree Dagger would quickly learn Ex's style of fighting.

Dagger and Ex stopped, leaving them parallel to the silver wall, each readying to attack or counter attack. Ex moved first, running toward the wall. Dagger followed. Both angled in toward the other. Ex's first instinct was to leap to the wall and attack as he rebounded. Instead, he skidded to a stop against the wall, slashing as Dagger passed by in the same move he had just been ready to do.

Dagger landed, stumbling as his damaged leg slipped. He righted himself and stood there, gripping his wounded knee. Ex moved slowly, walking around into Dagger's sight. He realized at the last moment it was a trick - Dagger was in motion instantly. Ex felt the pressure of the canbara sword go deep into his right arm, while Dagger felt the pain. The sword was ripped away, tearing away Ex's armor, and leaving part of the blade behind.

Ex pushed in toward the stunned Dagger. Rolling around, he struck with his good arm, leaving two thin deep gashes across his chest plate. Dagger swung his left hand out, using its weight to dent Ex's face plate and knock him away.

They both stayed away from each other, taking a brief pause. Ex was dented from hits he didn't notice taking and his right arm hung useless at his side, pealed like an orange. Dagger wasn't much better. His chest panel was seeping oil and sparks poured from his leg like water. Dagger felt much worse than Ex, '... something is happening here. Every thing I hit him with he just shrugs off while I feel the pain.'

As Ex sat down, Dagger tensed expecting an attack. "Sit down Dagger," Ex said in an unusually forceful tone. "It's time to talk. That or you can cut me up until YOU can't take the pain anymore."

Dagger moved away a few steps, "Who are you?"

Ex took his limp arm and placed it in his lap, "It all started with my activation..."

--- back in realty---

Leinda and Jeniffer were sitting with Star while waiting for their medabots. The silence was unbearable, broken only by the occasional moan from Ex. Leinda would try to get Star to talk occasionally but the conversation would always end when Ex shifted or made a sound.

Star was staring into Ex's eyes. Earlier she had noticed flashes of red and they where becoming more frequent. She heard the door open and close. Jeniffer had gotten up to make a call. She had heard talking and some clattering shortly before Jeniffer came back. She was caring a tray of cans, oil for the medabots and soda for the girls. Behind her came an interesting pair of medabots.

The first bot was a white and silver Kuwagata type, however his sword arm was heavily modified. It had three identical blades, strait edged and configured like a saber-tooth-tigers flexor sword. The way the blades where held by a set of bars and claps it gave the impression that they could turn horizontally, forming one wide sword. "Hello. I am Proximus. Jeniffer said your name was Star?" he spoke with a very formal English accent.

Star wasn't sure what she should think of this medabot, even with the accent he moved and stood like a seasoned fighter. Star stood up, adjusting Ex's head first, "Yes, my name is SilverStar but Star is fine. You're Jeniffer's medabot?"

Proximus was shoved into a chair by the other medabot before he could answer. "Naw girl, Leinda is his medafighter. I'm Adreastea. Nice to know yah, Star." Adreastea was a gray and black cat medabot, but both her arms where modified. Attached to the back of her right hand was a crossbow, folded tightly but able to open into a thin, wide bow of considerable strength. The cross brace of the bow had crystals inset at several places and Star couldn't see any quiver of arrows. Adreastea's left hand was like a normal CAT types' arm except for the long crystalline sword extending from the forearm.

Adreastea passed a can of oil to Star as she sat back down beside Ex. She sat silently as Proximus and Adreastea told the girls about their day. Star didn't see Proximus stand up from his chair until he was standing beside her and Ex. He was studying Ex, "Would you mind telling us how your friend came to be this way? I haven't encountered many comatose medabots." Proximus pronounced 'medabots' more like 'meadibots'.

Star leaned over to set her oil can down on the coffee table. Before she could even sit back Ex bolted upright. His eyes where strobing from static to red, casting a glow like a flickering red flame. They sped up until they seamed to be rippling like water.

Star reached out to grip his shoulder but Proximas stopped her hand, "Don't! He's rebooting. It'll take a..." Ex's eyes locked on red. They looked just as Star knew them, but something else was there too. Ex's head turned toward Star, holding for a moment before continuing onto Proximas. When his eyes saw Proximas restraining Star's hand, the strange thing in his eyes flared. He struck out.

Proximas dropped her hand and leapt back ready to defend himself and his friends. Star stumbled back as well, this was a side of Ex she had only seen during the fight with the Screws, when he had attacked the TOT type.

Ex stood up on the love seat. Star watched as he turned his head, examining the room and those in it. His left leg had a strong tick while his left arm hung limp at his side. She looked into his eyes as he stood there looking at her, his left eye wide and duller in color. She realized his left side was useless, like a human after a stroke.

"rrAsnT.. arIUjebG.. Sarrsist..", Ex's voice was garbled as he tried to speak. "Ssstaar, Sstarr. Whooo agreh othhers?" The strange thing in his eyes had withdrew. Star went forward, ignoring Proximas' warning hand, and helped Ex down from the love seat.

Star put her arm around his shoulders; his weight fell right against her. She pointed to the girls, "These two are Leinda and Jeniffer, they fixed our parts." She then gestured toward the other two in the room, "And these two are Proximas and Adreastea, Leinda and Jeniffer's medabots."

Ex suddenly pulled away from Star, the strange light coming into his eyes again. He began toward the doorway, his leg dragging, "Mmmust fiiinnd Ggene..."

Ok. There is the next chapter for all you readers. And I would like to ask if anyone thinks my writing style is appropriate for original stories.

And I'm still looking for another proofreader; Mermul is off at colage and dosnt have any time now.

Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing.

The MAD-MAN has left the building...


	8. C8 self control

Hello all you readers out there, I'm back. Sorry for the long long long long delay but I had to find someone to proofread this chapter and I got really distracted and really side tracked. Mermul is off to collage. No one proofread this so there will be more mistakes than before. Part of the delay was me trying to find a new proofreader, no luck.

I don't own medabots, but some characters belong to myself and others,

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, the Professor, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. the MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

Don't worry KiumuRo-Ku-Bee. I still have yours. A brief appearance in this chapter. Should be acknowledged in the next chapter. And séance you didn't give a description of medafighters except their names ill make some of my own with those names.

How many people actually read that? Not just skim over it.

Please bear with me, I never wrote a character with 2 minds. Well at least not in the same body ;).

_hello _ thought speak

Note- medabots have a diagnosis screen that can be used by the medabot to customize the way they use their parts or activate their special weapons. And can be used to install upgrades and mods. For more info on my interpretations of medabots read my other fic, Medabots Anatomy 101.

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Last time on ROF. Ex battled with his past self, Dagger. The fight was short and fast but a close draw. Star meet Proximus and Adreastea, Leinda and Jeniffer's medabots. and Ex woke from his 'coma' and nearly attacked Proximus before running out. What will happen next? (is it just me or do I make this sound like a soap opera?)

C8) self control

Ex had told Dagger what he knew of how they had gotten to this point, interrupted by memories. Ex's memories, triggered at key points in the story. Afterwards they both relaxed, trying to come out of the deep sleep they where in. Dagger was withdrawn at this point but as soon as he saw a strange bot he lashed out. Ex seized control before a fight could escalate.

Star introduced everyone as Ex tried to get Dagger to talk, _what was that about. we don't have any enemies here. Where do you think you are? These people were helping us. _

Dagger seized control again specking aloud as he left his room, leg dragging, "Mmmust fiiinnd Ggene…"

_how are you going to find him? You don't even know how long its been since you saw him_, Ex spoke to Dagger as they made there way down a side street near Leinda and Jeniffer's house.

Ex didn't expect to get an answer but he did, however Dagger spoke more to himself then Ex. _He wouldn't abandon me. we are the beast of friends,_ Dagger muttered aloud as he spoke but it was mostly incoherent.

Star was following close behind with Adreasta and Proximas, Leinda and Jeniffer had stayed back at the house at the instance of their medabots. Star was talking but she was on Ex/Dagger's left and Ex couldn't tell what she was saying. Dagger spun around as a hand touched his shoulder, striking out.

Ex stopped the blades mere centimeters before stabbing Star's face. _DON'T HURT HER! if you try that again I'll kill you!_, Ex put such force into his words that it forced control of their body away from Dagger.

Ex took control and snapped Their arm down to his side, struggling to keep Dagger from reasserting his own control. Dagger and Ex struggled briefly before Dagger relented shouting, _live me alone you Ghoul_, before hiding back within their medal.

"let me go!", Proximas was holding Star back. And Adreastea was aiming her bow at Ex. "that wasn't Ex trying hurt me. Ex stopped it."

Adreastea's eyes never left Ex, "stopped what hon.?"

Proximas kept a firm hold of Star and skillfully avoided her claws. His composer was beginning to slip, "Adreastea is right. Something is happing here that we don't understand. His mind must be unbalanced, possibly from how his medal is damaged like it is. We need to get him to the only man able to properly repair medals. Dr. Aky."

While the others were talking Ex was trying to get his parts to respond better. Imposed over his vision was a glowing green schematic of his parts and medal. For the moment he was trying to remap his medal's command circuits. when Proximas mentioned repairing their medal Dagger tried to take control again. Ex pushed him back before Dagger could draw Ex into a mental battle.

Ex finished working on his screens, he wasn't able fix much. He looked up at the three medabots, feeling a twinge of anger at seeing Star being restrained. He double checked his screens for a moment, "Ssorrry for tthhe conffusion, I wiill explain…"

Adreasta lowered her arm but didn't close her bow, "sure as shooting boy. You owe us that." Ex just nodded, not trusting his voice to function properly.

Star spun, slipping Proximas' grip and lightly shocking his legs. She leapt over Adreasta and ran to Ex's side, pulling his bad arm over her shoulder. She glared back at Proximas, "are we talking out here or somewhere else." Ex wasn't expecting Star to go back with him and tell the story.

Adreasta shook her head as her bow folded itself shut, "I don't exactly trust neither of you two at the moment. Him for going loco and you doll, you just don't seam right. Not for any medabot I know."

Proximas rested his hand on Adreasta's shoulder, "no I think we can trust them. And I think it would be better if we didn't discuss this in public." They all started back towards the girls house.

---meanwhile---

the balding white haired Dr. was sitting at a huge upholstered desk. The desk was a mess, covered in folders and papers and countless snack wrappers. The Dr. wasn't facing his desk but had his large soft chair spun to look out windows covering his entire wall. The city below was crowded and covered in a light haze of smog.

"I'm sorry doctor, he used the medaforce before ArkBeatle could stop him.", a man stood in the shadow of a large plastic plant. He comes forward into the light only enough for a mask to be seen. A white mask with wide eyes and a crimson smile.

The doctor is holding a photo album and the photo of Ex's shattered medal. The binding of the album is old and worn. The doctor opened it placing the photo inside. As he closed the cover a different photo slips free, he picks it up from the ground. it is a photo of a white haired boy and a deformed KWG medabot. A tear runs from behind his sunglasses, "goodbye my friend. Rest well."

The Phantom Renegade slips away, leaving the doctor alone. As he walks down a dark passage he stops, "don't worry Dr. Aki. Ill find what's left of your friend." He starts walking again, not seeing the small dark medabot that is hiding nearby.

---back with our friends---

Linda and Jeniffer had to be reassured several times that Ex wasn't going to attack again. Star was telling the story of how she meet Ex for Proximas and Adreasta. Ex had tried to help tell it but his voice still wasn't working very well.

Ex understood, somewhat, why Star changed so much of the story. She was quite a story teller, "we had been hiding in a tool shed for a few days while I fixed Ex. We had to run when the owner found us, that was why we where running along the river. We where stopped by Space Medafighter X, he just attacked us for some reason."

"what reason could the top ranked medafighter in Japan have for attacking you?", Proximas kept asking questions that Star had trouble answering. Ex would smile as Star hurried for an answer, what didn't help was that Proximas kept twisting and untwisting a wire. It was very distracting because of the noise.

Star was silent for a moment, Ex let go of her hand so he could stop his left hand from jittering. When it stopped he placed his hand back on Star's. she smiled at him, "I cant think of any reason to hurt him. Except when he dose something stupid."

Jeniffer tapped on the arm of her chair, "maybe he wasn't trying to hurt either of you. There is a rumor that Space Medafighter x is connected to the phantom renegade. The phantom is responsible for stealing rare medals from around the world."

Everyone was silent while mulling over this, except for Dagger. _forget this small talk. I need to find Gene. He can fix this, fix me. _Dagger was upset, at least in part by Ex keeping control of their body.

Ex griped his arm as it started rattling again. Every move he made was followed by several eyes, only one pair held any trust. He hoped Dagger didn't do anything to ruin Star's trust. Ex looked up from his hand to find everyone looking at him expectantly. "Sssory, whatt?"

Star griped Ex's hand and gave it a nervous squeeze, "Leinda asked you why you ran out when you came out of your coma?" she sounded like she wanted to hear why as well, just not in front of others.

Ex was waiting for this question to come up, even then he was hoping it wouldn't be asked. "IIIee wassnt in co-", Ex's voice froze when Dagger grabbed control away from Ex.

_you wont tell them anything! I want my medal back to myself_, Dagger's thoughts were full of venom. The two begin to struggle for control.

_they might be able to help us find someone to fix our medal._, Ex knew everyone was watching him but first he had to control Dagger.

"NO!", Dagger had such force behind that one word that it came out as words than thought. The whispered conversation between the two girls stopped and Adreasta's bow unfolded with a click.

Dagger continued unaware, or uncaring, of what was happening around them. _no one works on me but Gene. Gene is the only person I ever let touch my medal._

"Ex? What's going on? are you ok?", Ex was sorry to case Star so much worry he couldn't even reassure her until Dagger quit fighting him over control.

_its my medal too. And we need to work together to find a solution._, Ex didn't know if there was a solution. But he did need Dagger's help to try.

_it is MY Medal! You are nothing more than a ghost program created by my medal. You are nothing but a corrupt program!_, Ex was shocked by the truth in Daggers words.

All Ex was was a personality created when Dagger's damaged medal couldn't find the data that was Dagger. Ex felt himself slip away from the world as realization pulled him deep into the darkest parts of his mind. He was surrounded by that unexplainable feeling of wrong that he always felt and always pushed away. the feeling that made him run from Gorge…

--------

Star was worried about Ex. He wasn't talking he wasn't moving, he wasn't doing anything. His hand was slack in hers and his eyes where rapidly changing between two shades of red.

The girls and their medabots didn't like this. Ex had already given then more surprises than they would have liked, and here was another. The two girls stood back and whispered between themselves while Adreasta and Proximas slowly moved between them and Ex, weapons ready but lowered.

Ex's hand yanked away from Stars, his eyes had finally gone back to red. A lighter red than normal for Ex. He stared at Star and she shivered at the lack of emotions in Ex's eyes. Ex stood and walked away, diapering out the doorway followed by the slamming of the outside door.

Star begin to follow but stopped and looked back at the strangers she was beginning to like. She knew they would help her if she asked, maybe even if she didn't. "thank you for everything you've done. Ill come back and tell you what happens after I know myself." She stopped unsure if she should continue, "I need to help him myself."

Leinda came forward, arm held out in silent plea of understanding, "SilverStar. Please let us help you, both of you. We…"

"we cant help them" Jeniffer interrupted Leinda. "neither of them can be helped until they know what's wrong." Jeniffer's words stung.

Star was ready to retaliate but stopped when she saw her eyes soften for a moment. Star tuned and went out the door without another word. She was almost certain she would meat this strange little family again.

She looked around the darkening area, seeing no sign of Ex. She had waited to long inside and ex was gone. She turned and started to run back to the nearest sewer entrance, back to the medabot city. Before dropping down the sewer gate she glanced at the sunset as it colored everything red and orange.

She had to find Ex, she needed to search and someone who could find anything. She needed the Hunts.

There you go readers, another chapter of ROF. Again I'm sorry for the long long delay but I got sidetracked by one shot ideas and games. Not to mention a week of hard work followed by a few days in the dentist chair. And I'm writing an original fiction for a contest entry.

I'm afraid the next chapter will take some time. not as long as this one did but a while.

Has anyone else noticed that the medabots section is beginning to die? I know it's a horrible thing but it is sadly true. To any dedicated fans of medabots (or obsessive nuts who love it for no reason) I implore you, don't let this world of small fighting robots die. Review everything. Read everything. Trade ideas with other authors. Anything to keep interest alive.


	9. C9 Many Searchers

So here I am again with another chapter of ROF. This one didn't take as long as the last because I didn't write it out on paper, I took it strait to the keyboard. Because of this some of the plot ideas will be a little rougher.

Still no one to proofread this for me… do any of you readers what to do it?

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

Blueshock belongs to KiumuRo-Ku-Bee (see I didn't forget her).

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, the Professor, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. the MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

interesting author fact- I come up with the chapter names before I write the chapters. So the chapter is often meant to be what the chapter name implies but not always.

Another disclaimer- I don't own Medabots. I do this for fun and per recognition.

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C9) Many Searchers

Star pushed past the large bouncer and into the oil bar. It was one of several oil bars in the medabot city. It was different in one major way, everything going on inside was illegal in some way.

A wall was covered in televisions showing illegal robattles and uncensored movies. Fights happened everywhere and only ended when a medal hit the ground. the bartender served high grade oils mixed with liquor and energy capsules. Pits in the floor where filled with medabots necking with each other, some of the same gender. (I will NOT go into any more detail than this. I don't write lemons.)

Star pushed past several groups of medabots trying to dance to the jarring pulse flash music. Most of the bots in here knew Star, she was a master scavenger and one of the best fighters below or above ground. she went back towards the darker parts of the club where illegal parts upgrades where made and installed.

A neon green shark type jumped from where it was sitting in a dentist chair when Star approached. It scrabbled to wipe the chair clean of split oil as it spoke, "why hello SS. What can I do for you today? Maybe you finally decided to use some of my not so fair enhancements?"

Star jumped into the chair and pulled a small pouch from some where under her armor. She tossed it into the air once, "I need a paint job, Venom. The standard silver color but I want to try that new paint I heard you have." Venom shark reached for the pouch with a grin in his eyes. Star pulled back the pouch, "I need to talk to Blueshock afterward."

Venom froze for several seconds, "I don't know where…" his excuse died as electricity crackled around the pouch in Star's hand, blackening the edges. "fine ill go tell her but you owe me big." He turned and pulled a cell phone from under the chair and dialed a number with a pen in his claw. He walked away a few steps as he talked he winced as Star heard a wide range of profanities came from the phone. After a few moments he hung up the phone and came back to Star.

She watched as he began getting out a paint gun and started mixing paints. Soon he held up a jar or sparkling silver paint, "is this the shade you want?" Star nodded and Venom began loading the paint gun. he started spraying at Star's feet and worked his way up, the paint drying almost instantly.

He was almost done with Star's front when a cloaked medabot walked past the chair and into the privet back rooms. Both Star and Venom saw the medabot and knew who it was. Star rolled over and let Venom finish with her back. When he finished Star sat up and looked herself over. Now she looked almost new, the old patches and deep scars hidden by creative layering of paint.

She got down from the chair and started towards the door to the back, casually tossing the pouch over her shoulder. She opened the door and strode in past the weapon(WEP) type that guarded the door and into a private conversation room. The cloaked medabot was there, no longer wearing her cloak.

She was a rare medabot, in more ways than one, she was a DVL-WPN, only one of ten ever made. Her face was like a skull with eyes like screws and dark blue/black hair hanging down beside her face and a black collar-like neck protector. She has a thin body and waist with large bat wings on her back along with a pair of small jet turbines. Her waist is coved with a tail skirt from under witch comes her long tail with its spiky end. square shaped shoulders that widen from in to out with wide curved shoulder guards coming out the ends. Her arms are long and narrow with rounded guards around the forearm and protruding claws above her hands. Her legs are slim and rounded looking much like a KWG but without the traction claws. On both her knees and her forearms is a small four point star with a screw through its center.

Star sat down beside her and opened the can of oil waiting for her. she looked the other fembot over, seeing new scars and noticing a large pack under the table. She took a swig of oil before she spoke, "hello Blueshock. How's the Medafighter?" one of the other reasons Blueshock was different is that she willingly found a new medafighter after her last one disappeared.

Blueshock just took another sip of her gin-an-oil as she looked Star up and down. Finally she leaned back and sighed, "whatever you think a did you got no proof. And if you do, it wont hold in front of the council." Star had to struggle to keep herself from saying that she had enough to get both Blueshock and her medafighter arrested in any country.

Star just sat here and sipped at her oil, letting the other fembot stew with doubt. Finally, as Blueshock was ready to storm out, she spoke, "I need you to find something for me, or rather someone. And before you refuse, ill let security around the warehouses lax every few weeks."

Blueshock sat and thought about this. Star knew that she had been trying to steal from the warehouses at the edge of the medabot city. Star didn't know what she was after but she knew most of the stuff there wouldn't be missed in the long run. Blueshock removed a small PDA from her bag and checked something before agreeing, "alright but ill search for a month only and weather I find this person or not you still drop the security levels for at least once a month."

Star acted like she needed to think this over but she already had decide, "alright it's a deal." Star began telling Blueshock everything she might need to know to find Ex.

---meanwhile---

inside a small dark shed-like building a TV clicked itself on. the shadowed figure on the screen looked around at the room, specifically the four sleeping people. The dark figure reach off screen as a panel opened on the side of the TV. From under the panel came a large megaphone, the figure held up a microphone, "WAKE UP YOU IMBICELS!!"

the rubber suited 'imbeciles' jumped up, striking the ceiling, and prostrated themselves before the TV. The smallest one lifted his head, "what can we do O great meda-overlord."

The 'meda-overlord' tossed the microphone aside as the megaphone retracted. He stroked the cat in his lap as he spoke, "you incompetents are going to find me a medabot. NOT any normal medabot. This one has a shattered medal that was repaired with silver meda-bond. I WILL have that medabot. Go get that Medabot!"

The large man with a scared face lifted his head, "what dose it look like boss?" The dark figure reached of screen again as another compartment opened on the front of the TV. A robotic arm came out with a tazer, which promptly shot wire prongs. The scared man shook as high voltage crossed the wires and into his chin and then the rest of his body.

the other rubber suited figures edged away from the now smoking man. The figure disappeared from screen only to replaced by a short video clip of a KWG/FOX medabot watching a CAT type fight a red and gold KBT mark1. the clip ended and then restarted as the KBT began to fire it's promance canon.

The frame froze on an image of the KWG with FOX arms. The dark figure's voice came in the background, "GET ME THAT MEDABOT! NOW!" the three still standing dragged the large man out the door as the TV clicked off.

---elsewhere---

Dagger was inside a phone booth, tearing out pages in frustration. He couldn't find Gene or Gene's parents. He didn't bother opening the door but smashed out the glass side of the booth, raining glass on the man waiting for the phone. The man jumped and began to run the other direction as Dagger stalked past leaking oil from dozens of glass cuts.

Dagger kept walking trying to find someway of finding his medafighter. He didn't pay any attention to the man in a strange uniform, with an arm guard and visored helmet, until he tried to stop him. The man stood with his hand out blocking Daggers path, "you have destroyed public property, interrupted the peace and cased a public disturbance. You will be taken in until your medafighter can be found and fined."

Dagger smacked the hand out of his way and began walking once more. The man glanced at the thin scratches on his arm guard. He thought to himself, 'this medabot just attacked me.' the man scrambled for the small device at his side. whipping it up and firing it at Dagger.

Dagger didn't hear the small disk being fired because his left side still didn't work, including his hearing. The small disk struck Dagger in the shoulder and detonated with a flash of yellow energy. Dagger slumped to the ground, his systems forcefully shutdown but his medal compartment staying closed.

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so time for a poll. Witch of my characters do you like more. Ex, Dagger, SilverStar, BlueSky, Venom, or the Professor. What characters do you like from fan submission. Leinda, Jeniffer, Proximus, Adreastea, Hunter, or Blueshock.

I'm surprised it only took me two days to write this. But the plot is a little rough. Let me know what you think is good or could be better. Go review, review, review…


	10. C10 a reunion is coming

Ok here you go fans chapter10, I finally hit double digits.

I only had vague ideas bout this chapter so I'm making most of up as I go, or maybe I should say I'm making more of it up as I go than normal.

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

Blueshock belongs to KiumuRo-Ku-Bee (see I didn't forget her).

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, Venom, the Professor, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. the MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

Authors quiz- who remembers the name, without going back and checking, of the un-seen medabot that was with Star when she met Ex?

I just realized I forgot to do a recap before chapter 9. Do I really need them? I think ill leave them out from now on.

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C10) A Reunion is Coming

Dagger sat up, finding himself in a large dark room. The room had no windows and the only door looked to be made of heavy metal. Dagger began to stand but hit his head on the shelf above him. The entire room was full of shelves and on every one was a shutdown Medabot and a plastic envelope containing a medal.

Dagger rolled down from the shelf and began to look for a way out. He dropped to his knees as pain shot through his mind. One of his memories came forward unbidden, out of the same fog that Ex had fought.

-------

Dagger was standing in a room so dark that even his eyes couldn't see anything. Around him was the sound of many medabots. The medabots laughed as out of the darkness they attacked, lashing at Dagger with rusty pipes and cracked weapons. The bark of cannons was followed by pain dancing up Dagger's side.

Dagger heard Gene shout and felt a rush of power as energy rushed into him. An aura wrapped around him as his wounds vanished. His light tore at the shadows and he could see his attackers. They where horrible constructions, monstrous things made from several destroyed and damaged medabots bound together with a twisting, flowing black tar. They had several arms and legs, and even several heads but every one looked to be made from scraped parts and rusted metal.

Three of them stood before Dagger as the forth held Gene over its single head, a broken blade pressed against his young flesh. Dagger felt their empty hate towards him, hatred of everything. Dagger also felt his aura of power tugging at him, begging to leave him and tear into these strange monsters.

Dagger clenched his hands and pulled his aura in; fitting it into the shape he needed. Around him his light jumped and snapped trying to get at the monsters as they stood and laughed at him. His aura of jumping and crackling red began to grow lighter shading into orange then yellow and still not stopping.

The monsters stopped laughing as Dagger's light passed yellow and gold flickering past white. With a growing rumble it changed from a painful glow of pure light slowly into a vibrant sliver, like living mercury. The monsters began to tremble now as Dagger opened his eyes revealing they too had become silver.

-------

Dagger sat against the wall clutching his head and forcing the unwanted memories out of his mind. He didn't want to remember that day; he wanted that day to have never happened. He never wanted that responsibility for himself or Gene.

-----In a distant town-----

Inside a small cozy house a woman was washing dishes as her son polished the armor on his new medabot. The phone rang; the mother looked at her son but decided to answer it herself.

She was worried about her son, he had been sad for weeks. His depression changed him in so many ways. Before he was so happy and bright, now he never smiled and wore nothing but dark clothes. Her husband had bought him his new medabot, trying to cheer him up. But now the medabot was painted black and gray instead of its original gold.

She picked up the phone in the hallway, "hello, may I help you?"

The phone was silent for a moment before a computer begin speaking, "Hello this is the Riverview Select Corps." She almost hung the phone up thinking it was a charity drive but remembered it couldn't be. The select corps only did television charity drives. "A medabot with the registration number '18553.3' has been found. You will be required to come and retrieve it and pay for damage done to public property. If you are not the owner of…" the woman hung up the phone looking back into the kitchen at her son.

----In the medabot city----

Star awoke in her undersized apartment. She sat up, tossing her thin blanket aside as she reached for a can of oil. As she sipped at it she looked around the six by five foot room. It was the only room in her apartment and it was full of anything she might have dragged in. There were a few cases of oil, a box of regen pads, and anything she found on the surface she thought she could use.

She tossed the empty can atop an already impressive pile and began her morning stretches. She knew she didn't need to but it was part of her old routine and she liked to warm up before leaving for work. She was just reaching for the door to leave when her phone began to ring.

Star cursed and began digging down under her bed towards the ringing. She found her cell phone as it stopped ringing. She sighed and went towards the door once more leaving the phone on the bed. She was out the door and down the hallway when it started to ring once more.

Star burst back into her apartment and grabbed the phone, "Hello!"

"Star? Good I thought I might have missed you." The voice on the phone belonged to the Professor. "I have some results from Ex's test. If you could bring him over here I think I may have a way of bringing out some of his memories."

Star stood silently, trying to find a way of saying what she didn't want to say. Finally, as the Professor thought she hung up, she spoke, "Ex isn't here at the moment Professor. But I'll bring him over when I find him."

"Alright Star. Have a nice day." Star and the Professor both hung up. Star sat down on her bed, she had been trying not to think of Ex. She was worried about him; Blueshock didn't want her to search for Ex because she thought Star would get in the way.

Star pulled herself to her feet and went out the door and towards work. Today she was scavenging around the warehouses behind the Medabot Corporation. Only she and a handful of other medabots could do this. It had some of the best security in the area. It was her job to steal from humans so that the Medabot city could survive.

----In the sewers----

Blueshock was walking toward a ladder leading up to a manhole cover. She was off to visit her medafighter before begging her search for Ex. She hated the idea that she was working for Star. Star was the closest thing she had to a rival, if Star couldn't find it; it wasn't legal in the human world. Blueshock specialized in finding illegal objects, if she couldn't find it, it didn't exist.

She climbed out of the manhole cover and looked around the ally it led to. She knew she was within a block of her medafighter's home. She pulled her heavy sack up from the sewers and set off down the ally with it balanced on her shoulders.

Star told her everything she knew about Ex but Blueshock knew there was something else she left out. Star told Blueshock what he looked like, that he had some medal damage and that he enjoyed standing in the rain. Blueshock couldn't help but think Star had a crush on this Ex.

Blueshock finally reached her medafighter's house. She found the key under a false stone and let herself in. She checked to see if her medafighter was home but couldn't see her. She went into the living room, dropped her bag on the couch, and scribbled a note saying she would be back later.

Blueshock didn't waste any time after she left her medafighter's house. She took to the roofs and began running toward one of her better contact's hangouts. She just hoped she could find the old stag beetle at one of his usual places.

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I know there wasn't much in this chapter but I'm having trouble with ideas, I got too many!

So who all is wondering what's going on with Dagger and that strange memory? Well you'll just have to wait and read the next chapters.

Anybody have any suggestions or ideas, pointless observations, flames, honest feedback? Then review and tell me them. I don't care if you don't have anything to say just let me know more than four people are reading this.

Oh and I got a new proofreader. Say thanks to Corona89


	11. C11

Ok I had even less ideas for this chapter than the last so bear with me. And yes I know the sudden shifts in POV are annoying, I'm trying to get them over with.

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

Blueshock belongs to KiumuRo-Ku-Bee.

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, Venom, the Professor, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. The MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

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C) 11 arguments

Blueshock was mad at herself, it turned out that the strange medabot she had been already searching for was this 'Ex' that Star wanted. She had been checking, or rather hacking into, security cameras around the city for any sign of a KWG without a medafighter. When she found an image of one finally she nearly fell of her chair with revelation. It was the same one as in the picture she was given by that loud mouth girl. It never even occurred to Blueshock before now that the two KWGs she was hunting could be one in the same.

She was madder than mad; because now she couldn't decide which reward she should collect. Star was going to let her steal from some private warehouses, but only at certain times when there wasn't much there. The loud mouth girl was going to give Blueshock a one of a kind set of parts that were illegal and heavily damaged, not that the girl admitted they where damaged.

Blueshock already had leads on where Ex was but the trail went cold after she found a smashed phone booth. She was currently sitting at a digital cafe hacking into information BBS and posting trackers on search engines. It wasn't likely that she would find anything but she covered all her bases. She sat back, deciding to wait a while.

---- Only a few blocks away----

A red family van pulled to a stop along side a curb near a large official building. Out climbed a young boy dressed in dark clothes with two meda-watches on his wrist. One white and one gray. He shut the door behind him and leaned in the window, "I'll be fine mom. I'm just going to get it and pay the fine."

The boy's mother gave him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush in embarrassment before driving off. The boy scrubbed at his cheek as he walked in the glass doors of the Select Corps building.

----Inside the select corps building----

Dagger was sitting against the door of the medabot storage room. He was trying not to think of his past or the horrible things he had done. He just wanted to find Gene and forget what they did wrong. To try and make up for their wrongs. He and Gene had planned to help the world.

The door behind Dagger swung open causing him to leap to his feet. He ducked behind the door as a man in a strange uniform walked in and started checking shelves. Dagger slipped around the door and out, only to be knocked back in.

A dark clothed boy stood outside the door with a black and gray KBT mark3. It was the medabot that had punched him. The boy looked familiar to Dagger but he never meet him before. The boy raised his arm showing Dagger the two medawatches, "hello Xetreame."

"Gorge?" this was the boy that activated Ex. Dagger stood up again missing the solid weight of his old weapons and despising the flimsy blades he had now. "Out of my way. I have no issue with you."

George grinned as his eyes trailed back behind Dagger. Dagger stepped to the side as a small disk shot past and struck the door. The select corps guard had tried using a shock disk on Dagger. The door crackled with energy as Dagger turned to look at the guard, ignoring Gorge and the medabot.

Dagger leapt at the guard as he struggled to reload his disk launcher. The man dropped his disks and the launcher and turned to run, right into a shelf. Dagger landed beside the fallen weapon as the guard fell over, out cold.

A single shot rang out, echoing off the close-set walls. The shot passed over Dagger's head striking the shelf behind him. He looked back at the KBT wondering if the medabot could aim at all. The shelf behind Dagger slumped forward and collapsed on him.

George and the KBT came and kneeled beside Dagger's head as it stuck out from under the collapsed shelf. Gorge picked up a shock disk and snapped it to the side of Dagger's face, the shock sending him into shutdown and singeing Gorge's fingers.

Gorge and the KBT began to pull the shelf away. After they got him out the KBT tossed Dagger over his shoulder, George gave a twisted grin and looked at Dagger's unconscious form, "Let's go home."

---In Dagger's medal---

Ex sat huddled in on himself, he sat in a dark corner of his mind. No not his mind, Dagger's mind. Dagger was real; Dagger had lived a life with a medafighter and friends. Ex had just searched for the past, Dagger's past. He was nothing but a shadow program, a false file.

Ex didn't look up as Dagger suddenly appeared, he didn't even register that Dagger was there. Dagger stood up from the floor rubbing his shoulder where the shelf had hit him. Dagger began pacing back and forth muttering under his breath, totally ignoring Ex.

Ex closed his eyes and let himself forget everything. He tried to force all his memories away. He forced away Gorge, let his first night fade, made his brief stay in the medabot city disappear behind a wall of shadows. But from all of it he couldn't forget Star, with every memory he let slip away Star grew brighter…

---Medabot Corporation---

Star slipped out of an air vent, she slid down the wall clinging to a bundle and looking for guards. She hit the floor and darted into the shadows behind one of the countless crates. This was the storehouse where the medabot corp. stored its many products before they went out to distributors.

She was the only one here; she sent the others back because something was wrong. The security was laxer then ever before, that made Star think a trap was planned. She glanced around again seeing nothing but mountains of crates and packages, not a single guard.

She slipped out from the shadows and slipped among the many rows between the crates. She knew where to go, the parts the city needed were at the very center of the storehouse. She heard the scrape of a metal foot on cement, in an instant she was atop a crate looking around. She waited and heard the sound again coming from around a corner.

She edged around the top of the crate looking for the sound. What she found gave her a bit of a shock. A pair of guard DOG types had been tied up and strapped to the side of a forklift. Star didn't like this, another thief was here somewhere and she had a bad feeling about who it was.

She debated whether or not to head back and leave her scavenging for another day. She looked down at the two struggling guards and decided that she was going to get those parts, phantom or not.

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Star crept along the tops of the many crates toward where her prize waited and probably a trap. She didn't like this one bit, she had found three more security medabots and one unconscious human. If she didn't get those parts now, and anything else she could steal, the warehouse would be imposable to enter again.

She was hoping that she could catch the phantom or whoever was here and leave him for the authorities. She didn't doubt she could deal with a common thief but if it was the phantom she was going to have to out think and out maneuver.

Finally she reached the center of the warehouse, only to find her goal missing. The crates had been moved to form a large ring; the crate she was after could be anyone of them. She moved to the edge of the ring looking for the one she was after.

Star dropped into the ring and began checking serial numbers. She was ready for a trap but still jumped as a light clicked on. She looked around, liking this even less than before, she didn't see anyone but tried to back out of the small circle of light. The light followed her, effectively binding her to who was moving it.

She leapt aside as a powerful laser blasted the ground where she had stood. The light shut off and two dark shapes leapt down from the scaffolding far above. Star realized this wasn't her day at all. She was facing SMX and Arkbeatle again, and she knew that Ex wouldn't save her this time.

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dum! DUM! DUUUMMM!!!

What do you think? My chapters are using those point of view changes far too much for my liking but at least I try to fill them out as much as I can.

Review. NOW. This means YOU!

Say thanks to Corona89


	12. C12

Sorry for the delay everybody, my computer is dieing. Not to mention I have been working on an original story, I may post it later. Then I got a bunch of new games to play and then I got sucked into reading an awesome story.

I'm going to try to keep this chapter focused on Dagger/Ex. (dang this story can get confusing sometimes)

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

Blueshock belongs to KiumuRo-Ku-Bee.

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, Venom, the Professor, Flint, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. The MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

* * *

C12

Dagger was still pacing back and forth inside his medal, thinking aloud. "What does that boy want with me? He has a medabot. And if he checked the international registry he would have known my medal belonged with Gene." He stopped as he realized that maybe his medal's registration number was missing, destroyed during the repairs.

He turned to pace back the other way when he saw Ex sitting against the wall. Ex had been silent and unresponsive for a long while now but it made no matter, all the memories that Ex had had where also his. Even if Dagger couldn't understand some of the emotions and thoughts behind them.

Suddenly Ex's self-mental image flickered (don't tell me you thought this was a physical room?). Dagger watched as Ex flicked and faded before solidifying again. "So you're finally deciding to get out of my body. Its about time", Dagger strolled over and rolled Ex over with his foot.

Ex gazed up at Dagger without any expression or reaction. Dagger couldn't help but grin, Ex's personality was failing and soon would be nothing more than a strange set of memories in his mind.

* * *

Dagger found himself looking up at a light blue sky full of small wispy clouds. He sat up and looked around the small fenced garden full of sun-blossoms and white roses (I have no idea what plants are found in Japan so deal with it or tell me). The top of the white washed fence wasn't even over his head. Without half a thought to anything else he took off at a dash toward the fence.

Before he was within a foot of the fence he stumbled as an electric shock arched through his body. He rolled head over heels to crash into the fence; all the while electricity ran along his parts. After a few moments the electricity stopped and he was again looking up at the clouds.

"You shouldn't try that again", Dagger twisted around and found the black KBT sitting on the steps leading up to a small lavender colored home. Dagger stood up and reached out to the fence again; only to jump back again as energy ran across his arm.

Dagger was pulled away from the fence, he whipped around smacking the KBT's arm away and then stabbing for his chest. The KBT easily stopped his attack, surprising given Dagger's superior speed. Dagger found the twin barrels of the KBT's submachine gun inches away from his face.

"You have a shock chip in your tinpet. Whenever you get too far from your medawatch you get fried. Whenever you do something Gorge don't like he shocks you. When you don't fight well enough you get shocked. Because of you my medafighter don't trust me!" as he spoke his voice kept getting louder.

Dagger tried to pull away but the KBT gripped his arms and forced them down to his side, "You ran away! You left him behind without a single reason! You crushed his heart! Because of you I have a medafighter who never laughs, who never smiles, unless it's insincere. And now I have to watch you every moment that Gorge isn't around!" Dagger could feel his arms begin to crack as the KBT grew angrier.

"Flint. That is enough", Flint dropped Dagger's arms and spun around to face Gorge leaning against the doorframe. "So you finally speak your mind", Gorge's finger traced around the edge of the black medawatch, Flint tensed up expecting the push of a button and the coursing pain that came out of that boy's finger.

Dagger collapsed to the ground as Gorge's finger darted over to the white medawatch and sent electricity along his parts. Flint winced and took a step away from Dagger's twitching body.

Dagger simply lay there facedown trying to let his system cool down from the powerful surge of pain. "Get up. We are going out to train." Gorge was already striding toward the small gate in the fence as Dagger pulled himself to his feet. Flint didn't even give him a second glance as he followed Gorge. Dagger considered staying there until a small shock sent him jumping to his feet and a stronger one trotting after.

For being so young Gorge could walk extremely fast, the three of them were already well on their way to town. Dagger didn't realize how far Ex had run to get out of the suburbs. Gorge's home probably wasn't even considered part of the city (I have only limited knowledge of cities. I'm a born and bred country boy. And the biggest city I have ever been isn't even a shown as a city on the map.)

Dagger had tried asking Gorge questions, actually he demanded them, but he only got shocked for his trouble. Flint didn't even acknowledge that Dagger was there. So Dagger spent his time running diagnostics and installing update programs from his memory.

Dagger smiled to himself as he thought of the programs he was installing. He had hundreds in his memory that he and Gene had made together. Some of them trivial and rather pointless but others where so unbelievably powerful that they could make a medabot near unstoppable. His smile fell as he remembered the most powerful upgrade program they had made, and how it went horribly wrong. (I haven't mentioned this before but by using the nanos in the medabot a program can upgrade the physical parts. However it takes so long that it is easer to simply install a better part/circuit/armor/device.)

Dagger looked at the back of the boy who clamed to be his medafighter and just knew he was going to hate him. Gorge stopped in front of a large one-story building with a red tiled roof trimmed in carvings of vines and walls of lightwood with real vines climbing up lattices. Out front of the building was a small stone garden fighting at odds with a modern steel sculpture. In all the building screamed of bad blending of styles.

The small sign above the door proclaimed the building a medabot dojo. As he followed Gorge and Flint inside something in his memory distracted him from the handful of medabots training inside. He brushed it aside as he watched a blue Dog type shooting at a target wall, it was Crosserdog. He actually managed to hit the target fairly close to center but it was apparent that he had to think over every shot.

They just walked right on out the back of the building and into what Dagger could only call a war zone. Medabots were everywhere, fighting each other and automated robots that flung around clubs or shot flying razor disks. Behind the dojo were two or three yards tied together and contained within armored glass. Inside these walls was debris and small areas of different terrain that was placed together with out any reason. A small pile of boulders sat next to a pond and a group of old logs had been stood up to look like forest, it was probably one of the best training grounds around short of someplace that had the new holographic terrain simulator. It was ugly and packed with more than six or seven medabots all attacking anyone and anything.

An alarm blared out and the medabots all stopped fighting. The few that could still walk came out the door and went to their medafighters standing along the walls; those that couldn't were retrieved by a pair of Mole type medabots (Digmole) and taken inside the dojo followed by their upset medafighters.

Most of the other medabots and medafighters also went back inside and sat down on benches and began talking to their medabots and each other. George pulled open the door and pointed inside. Flint went in immediately and Dagger glared at his back before going in himself. Once inside he walked towards the pile of boulders that was apparently suppose to be like mountainous terrain. He hopped up to the top and looked around. He shook his head at what he saw. Every possible kind of terrain was here but the way they were mixed together it would never help anyone learn to fight on any kind of terrain. It may help learn to deal with sudden shifts in terrain but you could never learn how to fight on a specific kind of landscape, it would only hinder you.

He dropped down the other side of the boulders and started across a stretch of grass. He turned back as he heard the door slam shut and scrambled back up the boulders. He looked over the top and saw flint standing at the ready before two medabots. Dagger felt ill (not physically, mentally) he didn't want to deal with George or Flint but he didn't have much chose in that matter. But if he could he would have stayed far away from those two medabots. Proximus and Adreastea were there in fighting stances and looking all ready to tear Flint to shreds. This was the dojo where they worked and Gorge just happened to choose here to train.

"Xetreame" George's voice over the medawatch made Dagger jump, "Move out there and fight." Dagger considered staying where he was or even avoiding the fight but at the thought of the electricity frying him again he jumped up to the top of the rocks and slid down the other side.

As he stopped beside Flint he saw Proximus and Adreastea's eyes widen in surprise. The alarm sounded again and Dagger didn't waste their surprise. He went low to the ground in a dash and brought his arm upward ready to drive deep into Proximus' body. Proximus fell back and side stepped Dagger's following thrusts.

Dagger heard the sound of shots behind him as Flint fought with Adreastea. Suddenly Dagger was on the retreat as Proximus came back swinging his hammer fist. Dagger decided a change in locations was necessary; he waited until one of Proximus' sword slashes carried past before turning and running toward the mock forest.

He knew Proximus was right behind him as he hit the edge of the tree line. However he was even closer than Dagger thought as he drove a punch into the back of Dagger's head. Dagger landed next to a tree and rolled aside as Proximus drove his tribara sword deep into the tree. Dagger jumped to his feet and backed away as Proximus tried to pull his sword(s)(I don't know if it would be considered one or three) free. Dagger jumped forward and slashed downward with all his might.

Proximus slumped to the ground as his arm began spouting oil and sparks from the two long gashes running from his shoulder to his forearm. Dagger slumped against another tree and clutched at his arm, one of his blades had torn free of its mounting and was now stuck in Proximus' arm.

Proximus pulled himself up and braced his foot against the tree and pulled his sword(s) free. Dagger stood up again and readied himself but Proximus merely stared at him. Dagger wondered why he wasn't attacking but didn't actually want to fight either. Lately he had been feeling an echo of every little pain.

"You keep surprising me Ex", Proximus was still studying him but was also trying to hold his arm now. "My first question is why does Gorge call you Xetreame? And I suppose my second is why are you with a medafighter? Is he the one you ran away from?"

Dagger didn't lower his guard for an instant, knowing that this could just be a ploy. He also knew that for some reason he had just been fighting almost like before his medal was smashed. Adapting and adjusting was one thing but with the level of damage his medal had taken he shouldn't have ever gotten so close to his old skill level.

Proximus must have relished why Dagger hadn't answered him because he slapped his forehead in exasperation, leaving a smear of oil across his face. "Sorry, forgot. I surrender. Now will you answer me?"

Dagger didn't relax but he did lower his arms after looking around for other attackers. "My name is Dagger, not Ex or Xetreame. My medafighter is Eugene not Gorge. I'm only with him because he is disillusioned over the ownership of my medal and has a restraining shock chip in me."

If Proximus had a jaw it would have been sitting at his feet. Dagger was tired and didn't want to be bothered by any more questions that he didn't want to answer; he wasn't even sure why he answered those few. He stepped closer and gripped his blade where it was stuck in Proximus' arm and ripped it out with a new flow of oil and sparks and a cry of pain from Proximus.

"Why did you do that! It could have waited until we got to the repair room inside the dojo." Dagger turned and walked out of the woods and back towards the door. "Hey! Where are you going so fast?" Proximus hurried to keep up.

Dagger was just rounding the pile of boulders as Adreastea came rushing up. Her bow arm was hanging at her side in grayed colors and she had plenty of small marks from where shots had hit her. She looked happy until she saw Proximus trailing back behind Dagger.

Dagger jumped forward, blades leading but she was already parrying with her own. Dagger pressed his attack driving her back wards while blocking or dodging her counter attacks. Dagger had the momentary advantage but it would only last until she recovered her balance. Adreastea's agility and dexterity were far better than Dagger's.

With all the grace he expected from a cat she stepped back and executed a perfect snap kick, sending Dagger to his back. With a growl she leapt up into the air and started to bring her sword down. Dagger whipped his hand up tossing his forgotten blade that he had been holding.

Adreastea's sword pierced into the ground next to Dagger's head, barely missing him. She missed because now Dagger's blade was lodged deep into her elbow and both her arms had ceased to function. She simply lay there on top of him staring blankly at his face until she realized how they must look. She tried to stand up but only fell back against him as her arms slipped. Proximus pulled Adreastea to her feet looking very annoyed.

Dagger climbed to his feet on his own ignoring the two beaten medabots staring at him. He turned towards the door and found Gorge standing there with a severely damaged Flint. Gorge had a twisted smile on his face that actually came close to being happy. Flint just looked frustrated, probably because he had lost while Dagger had won.

Dagger took a step towards them but then stopped and went back to Proximus and Adreastea. In one fast motion he griped his blade and twisted it before pulling it from her arm. He growled at them under his breath, "Don't bother me. Don't tell Gorge anything about me. Don't come near me and I won't bother you." She winced but didn't say anything but Proximus looked ready to attack Dagger.

He turned and went to Gorge leaving the two of them muttering behind him. Gorge lead him and Flint to a room full of people working on repairing their medabots. Gorge sat down and began working on Flint while Dagger jumped up to the tabletop and started working on putting his blade back on his arm.

In a taxi---

Blueshock was with one of her medafighter's clients, haggling over costs and reasons why she wanted more while he should pay less. Suddenly her PDA started beeping. She pulled it from her belt pouch and opened the email; it was from one of her tracking bots. It was a small video clip from a medabot dojo taken not more than a few minutes ago.

The client leaned away from her as she began chuckling. She had found Ex and she had already decided witch person she was going to turn him over to. Her laugh grew loader and the client went pale and muttered that he would pay whatever she wanted as long as she didn't hurt him.

* * *

There you go another chapter. Again sorry for the delay but it happens sometimes. I have far to many stories at the moment but I cant stop writing in them until I run out of ideas or decide they suck. Meda Magic was one of those I decided sucks. But the others are good and I don't think I will ever run out of ideas. I don't get writers block in the sense of I cant think of anything to write but rather that I cant decide what would work better where and when with who about what.

The main character has far to many different names and I'm afraid it can only get more confusing from here. I don't know weather I'm killing of Ex or not. I can go either way right now but I'm going to have to decide before I write the next chapter with Dagger/Ex.

Yes Dagger is supposes to be harsh and clinical. But he wasn't always that way; I will fill in more about why later.

I'm thinking the next chapter will be with Star and the robattle you all have been waiting for.

Say thanks to Corona89


	13. C13

Ok I started this chapter shortly after the last but I'm still sorry it took so long. I despise typing…

I'm going to try and keep this focused on Star but I think there may be a guest appearance from one of the medabots gang.

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

Blueshock belongs to KiumuRo-Ku-Bee.

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, Venom, the Professor, Flint, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. The MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

Oh and just because I haven't used one in a while, disclaimer: this is a work of fan appreciation. I receive no tributary reimbursement in return for this story. I am seriously dirt poor… please do not sue me…

* * *

C13

While Dagger was waking in Gorge's yard Star was readying for a fight. She was deep inside the main storeroom of the Medabot Corporation and facing the number one ranked medafighter and medabot in all of Japan. Arkbeetle was a hard fight, last time she couldn't even hit him, but she knew the real threat was Space Medafighter X. if he decided it wasn't a robattle he would attack her himself and she would only be able to run.

The bright lights shining down into the ring of boxes hurt her optics as they glinted off Arkbeetles armor and SMX's golden mask. She stopped her tail from lashing at her legs hoping that SMX took it as anger, or anything except fear. "Nice color.", Star blinked at Arkbeetle. His voice sounded familiar but she couldn't place it. She realized what he meant a moment later and felt her circuits warm in embarrassment; he had basically called her hot. Anger replaced embarrassment as she felt that he had no right to say anything to her, especially when she didn't do it for looks.

SMX was silent as her watched her; he didn't move a muscle and Star began to wonder if he had fallen asleep standing. He and Arkbeetle just stood there so she did the same. The tension climbed higher and Star began entertaining the idea of running. She might make it out but she had nowhere to go but back to the medabot city and she couldn't run the risk of leading them there.

Her tail began lashing against the ground, as she grew uncomfortable, the plug like end throwing sparks against the concrete. "What do you want?" she was tired of waiting for them to speak. Arkbeetle just watched her in a manner that almost overcame her anger with embarrassment. SMX drew a handkerchief from his sleeve and proceeded to shine his medawatch, totally ignoring her.

Her tail struck the bundle she had dropped behind her, inside was a crude device that made a transport field around whatever it was attached to. It was useless unless she got around SMX and found the crate with what she needed. She couldn't even use it as a weapon because it would destroy living flesh. Sometimes she despised the restraint imposed on her medal that kept her from harming a human, even in self-defense.

SMX began tucking his handkerchief away, with a flick of his wrist the handkerchief flipped and several long dart like needles flew toward Star. She dropped to the ground as the darts passed over her and sank into the wooden crate behind her. She was about to shout a very derogatory comment about SMX's mother when Arkbeetle brought his arms up and began firing.

She rolled across the floor away from the blasts that followed her sending up chips of cement. She leapt to her feet and started running. She went right up the side of a crate and along them. Running parallel to the floor she ran along the crates circling around as the crates burst into flames and flying shards of wood. She briefly thought that the box she had been after might have just been blow apart but the thought was driven out as the laser blasts kept coming closer.

Suddenly smoke surrounded her and her feet caught on broken burning wood. She fell and tumbled across the cement, she had gone fully around the circle and tripped when she reached the blasted boxes. A hand grabbed the back of her neck and lifted her off the ground. She gripped Arkbeetle's red forearm as the golden horn came over her other shoulder.

She griped hard trying to force her claws deeper into the armor before releasing as much electricity as her weapons could handle. Arkbeetle grunted but held onto her. She saw her claws begin to slip, pealing off thin strips of paint and armor. She noticed that under the red paint was once a very dark green. Before she could wonder about this something in Arkbeetle's arm exploded with a small but very loud explosion.

Star was dropped and rolled away with her head ringing from the blast. She looked back and found that this something in his shoulder had exploded out ward taking much of his armor with it. As he turned to face her the barrel on his shoulder slipped and fell to the cement with a dull clang. He shifted into a fighting stance, totally ignoring his damaged parts and her shocked expression.

Her leapt at her, striking at her with his arms like clubs; he didn't seem the least bit at a disadvantage. She could hardly keep up with his sudden movements and spent most of her time dogging. Suddenly she was hit with a laser, a laser from his damaged arm. She fell to her knees clutching the jagged stump that was once her ear. She didn't notice as he stepped back from her, all she could focus on was the screeching noise coming from her ruined ear and the pain it reeked on her system.

After a little time the noise dropped down to an irritating buzz. She lowered her hands and leaned against the floor as her system tried to recover. A few drops of oil ran down from her head and across her optic for a moment before falling to her hands. Part of her had the strange detached realization that it must look like she was crying. The thought that Arkbeetle had made her cry filled her with a quivering rage.

She wasn't thinking clearly as she jumped to her feet and rushed him where he stood across the circle of burning boxes. He simply waited as she drew closer, not making any move to attack. She saw the spark of flame as it began to build between his horns and ran faster.

Two feet from him he released the ball of fire, that even if much smaller than his normal blast could still cook most medabots. Star brought her hands up before her optics and pulled her tail in against her back as she ran into the churning ball of fire. Arkbeetle was suddenly thrown back as an unharmed Star burst from the other side of the fireball and ran into him full tilt.

* * *

SMX had retreated up to his repelling line when the crates started burning and watched as the fight continued. The CAT was a very impressive fighter despite her dilapidated parts and lower attack power. He was interested to see her move along the sides of the crates like it was level ground, his interest fell a bit when she tripped and rolled along the ground.

"Restrain her carefully", that was the first command he had given to Arkbeetle during the entire battle. Arkbeetle picked her up by the scruff of the neck and held onto her even as she pumped electricity into him. SMX's watch bleeped just before a power cell in Arkbeetle's arm overloaded. He winced as he saw the damage report on his watch. The energy collector for the prominence attack was damaged, severally dropping its power and without that power cell Arkbeetle would need to charge for every shot from that arm.

SMX smoothed his face behind his mask as Arkbeetle began attacking her with his fists. SMX prided himself on insuring that Arkbeetle was just as good a grappler as a shooter. His hand twitched up towards his ear when Star's was shot off but he forced his hand back down when he realized what he was doing. He couldn't show anything to her, he just needed to know whatever she knew about that medabot she was with.

"Arkbeetle. Back off and ready the prominence, this has taken far too long." He would have rather taken her quietly but he doubted that would have happened given the first fight they had had together. His hand tingled as he remembered trying to grab the KWG after it had used the medaforce on Arkbeetle. A flare of a red aura burning his hand and sending him reeling.

He shook off the memory as the CAT charged at Arkbeetle, oil streaming down one side of her face and across her optic. Arkbeetle released the fiery blast that was disappointingly smaller than normal. He almost fell from his line as she ran right though the fire and tackled Arkbeetle. Even with the lower power that blast should have toasted her parts, that she didn't have a single mark was impossible.

* * *

Star pulled herself to her feet and lost what little control she had left. She simply started kicking and stomping on Arkbeetle, driving the plugs on her feet into his side. Arkbeetle recovered quickly and kicked out sending Star tumbling back against a burning crate. She leaned back against it for a moment thanking her new paintjob before pushing herself out of the flames that had begun to overheat her system but didn't harm her armor in the least.

She stared back at the flat green visor that hid every emotion or thought that he may have had. She wondered why he wasn't attacking her as she stood there. It seamed as if he was considering something he missed before. The smoke and fire must have finally gotten bad enough for the sprinklers to start because a torrent of water started coming down.

Star darted forward knowing not to question a good thing. She struck at him with her claws, her feet holding to the wet cement better than his could. He fell back staying out of her reach but still not attacking her for some reason. She began to get agitated once more and reason left her again.

She struck out with all her speed and held tight to the horn sticking from his chest. He tried throwing her aside but she dug her claws into his armor and brought her feet forward. Driving both feet before her as she pulled against his horn putting more force behind the driving kick that smashed into his face. His head snapped back and a web of cracks spread across his visor before falling to his back.

Star was tossed away when Arkbeetle fell but was back on him in an instant, griping his face and reading her attack. Had she been thinking clearly she might have realized that Arkbeetle wanted to be attacked. As she sent power into her claws the water caused a short circuit that blew out her power grid, hurting her more than the electricity had hurt him. She collapsed beside him, unable to draw enough power to move in the slightest but fully aware of everything especially the pain she had caused herself.

* * *

SMX grinned as the CAT went berserk trying to hurt Arkbeetle, this wasn't expected. Earlier the CAT was almost precise in her attacks but she lost her temper and was now just pounding away without thought. It was a surprise how much damage she was causing with her kicks, those prongs were meant to be ornamental but they tore at armor almost as well as her claws.

When Arkbeetle knocked her into a burning crate she relaxed for a moment and again flames didn't seam to cause any damage. The sprinklers started spraying water as she came back at him. She came back fast and then delivered a devastating dropkick as she held Arkbeetle's horn. SMX's medawatch bleeped again telling him that Arkbeetle's vision was compromised.

SMX looked back to the fight in time to see Star slump down from her own backfired electrical attack. He waited as Arkbeetle climbed to his feet and picked up the CAT. He began to slide down his repelling line only for his wet gloves to slip. He opened his eyes again and found his back throbbing and Arkbeetle standing over him with the CAT tossed over his ruined shoulder.

Arkbeetle helped SMX to his feet and up the repelling line with SMX groaning the whole way and a CAT type limp in his arms. Outside on the roof they went off across the rooftops to a distant part of the city.

Far below the open air vent a sack began to burn amongst the fires despite the sprinklers attempts. The sack began to tremble and the fire-weakened seams spit, letting a strange device made of a medawatch fall out. In the bottom of the sack sat a small phone that shook and vibrated as fire crept along the sack towards it. Voice mail answered, "this is SS. Hit me after the beep"

The phone beeped as the plastic began to bubble, "hey you stupid cat pick up! This is Blueshock. I found your friend. Call me back before I lose him." The line went dead before the plastic caught and the small screen shattered from the heat.

* * *

In a house somewhere in a decent part of town a phone rang, a motherly woman sitting by the phone in the living room answered the phone. "No. Erika isn't home. Can I take a message?" the woman sat aside her crossword and wrote down the offered name and phone number on a notepad. The woman tried to make polite conversation but the person on the other end hung up without another word. The woman decided she would have to talk to her daughter about her friend's manners.

* * *

Ok that's the end of another chapter. I think I finally wrote a fight a can feel proud of, almost. It's amazing this is the second chapter in a row with robattles, that hasn't happened much in this story.

SMX stopped using Star's name after she was beat but he had a reason not to use it. How would you feel attacking a friend with out them knowing why or that it was a friend attacking them. He isn't letting himself use her name because he sees this as something he has to do but doesn't like.

Review. I beg you! Press the button!

Say thanks to Corona89


	14. c14

I don't know whom this chapters going to be about. At this  -- line I know as much about this chapter as you (the reader) knows. I don't kid when I say I make them up as I go along.

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

Blueshock belongs to KiumuRo-Ku-Bee.

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, Venom, the Professor, Flint, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. The MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

Oh and there is some worse language and slight use of innuendo in this chapter and I predict that it will start happing more in future chapters.

* * *

C 14

Dagger struck out again and again stabbing into the target zones on the dummy. He was back in the medabot dojo and working with a simplistic motorized attack/target dummy. It was very simple. Every time you hit a target it would swing one of its arms. Each one ended in a sand filled sack. Currently it only swung one arm at a time; higher difficulty levels would have it swinging almost all nine arms. However Gorge didn't know, or refused to acknowledge that he was already a skilled fighter.

His blade sank into a target and he was already dodging the clumsy strike, moving aside and delivering blows to a different target as the sand bag passed. He hated Gorge already and this was only the first day he had to deal with him. He didn't plan on staying but he knew it would be a while before he could find and remove his shock chip.

"Take it easy. Your membership doesn't cover destruction of equipment." and there was another reason to hate Gorge, he had to find the one dojo where people knew Ex. Adreastea had made it a point of staying close to him as he trained, simply to show that she wasn't scared of his threats.

"Why don't you go rust in hell kitty? And take mister temperamental with you." Proximus was also hanging around him for some reason. Interestingly it was Proximus who reacted, not Adreastea. His sword clicked as it folded into one wide blade, he didn't attack though, and in fact Dagger would bet that he didn't even notice what he had done.

Adreastea didn't rise to his bait at all; she just kept watching him as he went through moves and attacks he had learned back when he and Gene decided they would become the best. Another one of his memories came to him again, the pain was terrible but this time he simply ignored it until it faded not wanting to see any memories at the moment. He found himself lying on his back from one of the sandbags hitting him when he was distracted.

"Heh. You okay Mister Attitude?" she offered him her hand to get up and he surprised himself by taking it. As she pulled him up a bolt of energy shot into him. He went back to his knees as electricity raced across his parts. He heard something crack and the voltage stopped.

Gorge stood across the room working with Flint but he could still see Dagger and he made a point of shocking him for every mistake or slip or just because he hadn't messed up in a while. Gorge was already working again when Dagger recovered and shot a glare at his back.

"I believe she said 'Ouch'", Proximus was standing beside Adreasta, his swords clicked as they shifted. Dagger looked at his hand and saw that he had crushed Adreasta's when the shock had hit him. He released her hand and watched her as she folded it under her armpit. He hated that stupid chip but he hated that anyone knew he had one much more.

"You should go fix that" he kept his tone flat and stood up. He turned and started back towards a different training dummy.

"That's all you have to say? You could apologize. I never saw you as an asshole Ex. Odd but not…" Dagger moved so quickly that before they knew it he had lifted them both off their feet.

He held them up buy the neck and glared at each in turn as they tried pulling his hands away. "I am not Ex. I was never Ex. Ex is DEAD!" the last word came out as a scream as he flung them away. He turned and stormed out the back door and into the war-grounds as it was called.

He didn't care that the session was still going on he pushed past the medafghters near the door and entered the large glass walled area. He walked across the mismatched terrain not caring about anything except hurting someone.

The first medabot he came across wasn't even a combat medabot. It was a fembot that looked like a trim woman in a bunny suit (from the games. Seriously). He didn't even think about it as his blades drove into her chest and exploded from her back, just short of a fatal blow. She gasped and stared into his eyes for a moment before her optics blinked off and she fell, sliding from his blades onto the ground.

Dagger didn't care about the damaged fembot or her medal as he walked on, leaving them lay. The next medabot he encountered was in the deep pond far along the back wall. It was a stingray type and had the advantage in water but he dove in sinking to the bottom as it came at him. Once, twice, three times his blades flashed in the murky light. As he climbed from the water the medabot's medal came floating up on its aquatic retrieval module (ARM- a device that floats the medal to the surface after ejection. Most aquatic medabots have these functions).

He was in a rage and he knew it. Why the hell did Ex have to like those two fools? It would have been fine for Dagger to be upset over hurting his own friends but they weren't his friends they where Ex's. He continued his mental ranting as he tore apart a tank medabot. "I don't like them at all but I'm stuck with the feelings that Ex had for them." How did that pacifistic idiot let himself like them? Sure they can fight but they where annoying to no end. The tank's medal landed on the pile of metal that Dagger had pealed its tinpet from.

His next victim was a green nurse medabot. He tore at her shield and pounded on it wanting nothing more than to rip out her eyes. The shield wall shattered and he leapt forward lifting her above his head and pulling his arm back to strike. Small laser shots ran up his back and drove him forward. As he dropped the nurse someone grabbed her and pulled her away.

He recovered from the hits and whipped around to find Metabee and Brass behind him. Metabee had grabbed the nurse, who was hiding behind him, while it had been Brass who shot him. Ikki and Erika came running along on the other side of the wall; actually Erika was dragging him along.

"For a medabum you sure know how to cause some destruction. But you shouldn't pick on girls." Metabee actually ran a finger under the nurse's chin after he said that and Brass looked ready to destroy the KBT. The nurse looked flustered before she turned and ran, glancing back over her shoulder with a confused look.

Dagger flexed his hands and considered skipping the usual banter and just attack. "If you want to take her place I don't mind. She was probably a harder fight." He could see how his remark agitated Metabee but he expected some kind of reaction from Brass. She didn't so much as blink so he decided to take another try, "Hey why don't you have a camera? You would probably do better taking photos then getting your pretty armor scuffed up." That did it.

Brass began firing her short shot, powerful energy slugs kicking up earth as they neared him. He had wanted to hurt someone but smashing these two would be much better than some nobody. He dodged aside and began running jumping or just dodging her shots. Then Metabee started firing. Metabee's aim was much better even if his shots hurt less then hers would have.

Dagger went tumbling as Metabee's shots tripped his legs from under him. He was up in an instant moving again, now avoiding shots from two angles. His temper faded into detached reasoning, something he had taught himself shortly after his first robattle back with Gene.

His every step took him closer to them as every roll and jump seemed to pull him from the path of the dangerous projectiles. Finally within range he struck out hard landing a strike on Brass and Metabee, Brass across the arm and Metabee a gouging hit disabling his knee.

And then he was dodging away taking scattered hits while avoiding the worst damage. His foot hit sand and he skidded across a small beach stopping just before the water. He turned back to see a pair of missiles flying towards him. He dropped back falling into the water. He forced himself into deeper water as the missiles exploded on the surface.

At the count of twenty he burst from the water and raced across the sand as fast as his water filled parts could move. Shots followed him kicking up sand and drawing closer but he began to pull further ahead as his parts drained. Reaching the fake forest he leapt and griped a branch twisting and flipping backwards, already heading back the other way when he touched the ground.

Before he could come within a dozen feet several shots pressed close together like a machine gun cracked against Metabee's side followed half an instant later by the bark of missiles. Flint had appeared behind them and while they shot at Dagger he had fired his machine gun, sending bullets into Metabee and missiles exploding around Brass.

"Who are you? Never mind get outa here this is between us." Flint simply stood there ignoring Metabee and stared at Dagger. The smoke around Brass cleared showing her still functioning but severely damaged. She raised her one functioning arm and fired at Flint, every shot hit but didn't so much as scratch him. He raised his arm almost mockingly and fired a single shot from his revolver.

"Brass!" both Metabee and Erica called out as she her medal ejected and her body fell over. Flint stood just as he had been with his gun barrel smoking.

"If you want to attack my medabots again make sure you are willing to lose." Dagger spared a glance at the wall and saw Gorge standing behind Ikki and Erica, his arm crossed but with his medawatches showing clearly.

Ikki took a step towards him and looked ready to attack the smaller boy, "Your medabot attacked ours first. You shouldn't bother us when it doesn't concern you."

Erika pushed Ikki aside and fired questions at Gorge like she did at everyone. "Why did you attack us? Were you trying to take down the third ranked medafighter in Japan? Or do you know Ex? Were you trying to protect him? What reason do you have to protect a medabot that has no medafighter?"

Gorge actually smiled and looked over at Dagger, "So Xetreame? You were calling yourself Ex, were you? You know if I cared at all I would ask why. I might ask a lot of things." While he had started speaking with humor in his tone it quickly turned dark.

"I get it Ex, or Xetreame, ran away. And now you found him or he came back. Wow. What a story." Her pen raced across the tablet pulled from nowhere.

Every bad thought within a block thudded into Daggers mind. Every feeling of joy and hope for miles around crashed against him. He was pulling them to him turning and sifting the countless emotions around him into the unbelievable power of the medaforce. His scream split the air and his sudden aura cast everything in brilliant red light so bright that the world seemed drowned in blood.

The medal hatch on his back glowed bright before exploding outward. He dropped to his knees and screamed again as his shattered and melted medal glowed brighter and brighter. With a final blinding flash his medal had changed, it was now a beetle in flight and the damage was gone. Across the medal swirls of silver mixed with the gold in spirals and twists.

When Dagger stood again Ikki and Erika where acting as though it wasn't anything new but Gorge's jaw was leaning against his chest and his eyes where popping. Dagger looked at Metabee and Flint back behind him, Flint was actually shaking but Metabee simply stood tapping his foot with his arms crossed.

"I'm supposed to be impressed? Me and Ikki have been using the medaforce for a while. I can even use it several times. The medaforce won't save you Xetreame." And with that a crackling green aura sprang up around him like flames. Metabee's damage vanished and he stood taller than before, his eyes glowing bright.

"My name is not Xetreame" a flick of his finger and a thin beam of energy shot from his aura, passing Metabee and striking Flint. Everyone watched as Flint's head fell from his shoulders, the neck melted away to nothing.

"My Name is not Ex." Another thin beam of energy destroying the wall and knocking the kids away leaving a crater in the ground and glass and dust everywhere. The kids looked up as the light changed again. From the conflicting red and green it became orange and green and then yellow and green.

"I am not anyone's lapdog to fetch when told." A glowing sphere rose from within him holding within it a large chip. The yellow ball crushed in on itself destroying the chip and pressing it down until it disappeared with a faint pop.

His aura color shifted again flickering past more colors than a rainbow, finally stopping at an all-consuming black. The world turned into a shadow within that dark light that overshadowed everything making everyone blind but able to see clearly. The darkness fought against Metabee's green glow, slowly consuming it and destroying the last of the light.

With the last of his power Metabee tossed what medaforce he still held at Dagger but the darkness drank it in and everything fell dark except for the source of the darkness. In everyone's eyes Dagger shone with a pulsing blackness that dwarfed the shadow that covered the world. They could see his eyes as they looked up at the sky, could see every color in his armor but there was no light.

"I am the lost friend. I have fought the plague that nearly swept over the earth, the plague that I caused. I have seen death and lived a second life only to come again into the world. I am Dagger and I will find my friend and medafighter. Any who stand in my way will fall." Every word a whisper and still the kids heard it and not only the kids but everyone trapped in the darkness as it continued to spread out over the country.

Without moving without making a single gesture an explosion shook the ground and like throwing a switch the darkness was gone. Metabee was laying on the ground without a mark on him but his medal resting nearby. The kids where in shock, not believing what had happened and not wanting to. Gorge retched, spilling his lunch across the broken ground. Erica grabbed Ikki without realizing it and starred in wide-eyed horror at Dagger. Ikki's eyes never left Metabee's medal.

Dagger turned and began walking away, steam rising from his open medal hatch. His aura was still around him but now it was a rich red that barely outlined his form with a thin line. His blades flashed and another part of the wall fell outward to shatter against the ground. His every step left a smoldering footprint in the ground. Everyone inside the dojo moved aside silently a he walked though.

Up the street his feet carried him and every person and car moved aside because they had all seen him, heard what he had said and knew what he had done and could do again. And despite the unexplainable horror on their faces he couldn't care less. He only wanted to find his friend, he only wanted to forget and be happy.

In Dr. Aki's office----

"… He didn't know any better but now he has turned the world against him and I don't know if I can save him." The Dr. was leaning against his window staring out towards where he, and everyone, had seen Dagger as if he was a few feet away. Dr. Aki turned and griped his chair, hurling it against the window sending webs across it. He turned and left the room at a run.

Around the world phones rang in every government. Whatever language the topic was the same, the days of darkness had come again, the world was in danger. Every response was one of two things. A prayer for mercy or an order for the threat to be removed.

Covert operations from dozens of countries sprang into motion. Every able agent or spy went on the move towards Japan. The world now had a unifying goal, the destruction of a single medabot before it could destroy the world.

And the medabot in question hadn't a single idea just how much his list of enemies had grown. Life for Dagger took a turn for the worst…

* * *

Ok I didn't plan that and it isn't what I had planed for in long term plot but its what my brain made and I like the possibilities it opens up. I don't think ill answer any questions about that freaky use of the medaforce, not yet. Well maybe if someone asks really nice…

And yes Dagger is a little nuts, wouldn't you be after all this happened to you? Heck you don't even know the worst stuff from his past.

Say thanks to Corona89 because he puts up with my poor grammar and spelling so that these chapters get proofread.


	15. C15

And here is another chapter… I hope I'm making it up to you for not updating in a while…

This chapter brings the medabot gang fully into the story. And explains some of my self made perceptions about stuff that happened in episodes I never saw.

Ok Cybertron88 owns Leinda and Jeniffer, and Proximus and Adreastea.

Hunter belongs to Spectral.

Blueshock belongs to KiumuRo-Ku-Bee.

SilverStar, Ex, BlueSky, Dagger, Venom, the Professor, Flint, and any random characters you don't recognize belong to me. The MAD-MAN

That's all the ones used at this point, there will be more, I'm sure.

Ok this is dark. Very DARK! Lots of gore and death (no character deaths) and very vivid images. NOT for the squeamish. You have been warned.

BIG HUGE CHAPTER!

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C) 15

SMX and Arcbeetle were in a dark moldy room somewhere. Neither spoke, neither one wanted to say anything about what had happened. It was delusional but to them not admitting it was real kept it a horrible nightmare.

SMX felt something bite his hand; looking down he saw blood dripping from his glove. In his hand was Star's medal; he had been griping it so hard that it cut into his hand through the glove. He relaxed his hand and let her blood covered medal fall to the battered table.

He had come here planning to question her but then the…thing happened. He looked over at Arcbeetle for a moment and saw the image of a KBT mark one imposed over his red and gold armor. The mark one was barely standing, its arm was gone and the other hung limp. Gaps and huge rents covered the side of his body without the arm. Oil pooled about its feet and even more came running out of it, and sparks raining down threatened to ignite the oil. But the eyes, one nothing more than an empty socket the other spread with hard gaping cracks, they burned deep with a passion that turned the shadow back. The snapping red glow was how he saw this but it was fading, it began to pulse like a failing heart, every beat weaker than the last.

SMX pushed the image away when his phone rang, he answered it with trembling hands, "yes?" he managed to keep his emotions out of his voice but only just.

"Come into the Medabot Corporation, the west board room. We don't have time for secrecy, come in the main entrance." SMX didn't react until the phone was back in his pocket. Then he lifted his gold mask and dropped it beside Star's blooded medal. With his head in his hands he simply sat without moving, wet spots appeared on the table and his mask. A single tear falling on Star's medal clearing the blood enough to see the small carving of a cat ready to pounce.

When the tears stopped he stood up and pulled his mask back on. He started to leave when he saw Star's body beside the door. For some reason he couldn't understand he went over to it and put the numbers from her parts and tinpet into his medawatch. Checking that her medal was in one of his pockets he left with Arcbeetle following him. And still Star's body sat there broken and mangled but looking like a home someone meant to return to.

------------

Dr. Aki paced back and forth in a large boardroom, the long hardwood table slowly filling behind him. His thoughts twisted knots in his mind that refused to let anything behind it lose. His steps clicked on the tiled floor first one way then the other. He spent most his adult life preparing to deal with this should it happen again but he never expected it to happen quite like this.

Behind him the chairs where almost full, not with scientists or politicians, not even some rich corporate men. Every chair held a child. He had never dreamed he would find so many that fit his needs and in some twist of fate they had all met each other on their own.

His theory was crude and held no facts or even supporting evidence but it was the only thing he had. If he was wrong the world would end, and more blood would be on his hands. Every child in the room held something that set them aside from other children.

Ikki, with a will stronger than most grown men and the understanding of what needed to be done. And often the refusal to do it because it hurts, not himself but others. Metabee standing beside him in a mixed array of parts was currently the only medabot in the room who could summon and control the medaforce.

Erika, the seemingly endless pit of questions and ambition. She hunted for knowledge and often found it by any means she deemed necessary. If her interests weren't entirely on journalism Dr. Aki might fear her taking over the Medabot Corporation some day. Her intellect was astounding but was often overshadowed by her emotions. Brass was next to her in parts just like the ones being repaired down in the labs. A silent soft-spoken medabot that was fiercely loyal to her friends.

Koji, the son of a rich father always quick to take insult but with a strong determination in himself and his beliefs. Determined to be the best at anything he trained himself and his medabot, Sumilidon, in most forms of martial arts, including the legendary shadow sword. Even now Sumilidon seemed an enigma to Aki, most of the time silent and reserved but in private enjoying a laugh or small conversation with fiends.

Karin, Dr. Aki's niece was almost like a daughter to him. She was so innocent that many thought her stupid but no one who saw her test scores could believe that. Her beauty and loving nature often had boys chasing her without her ever noticing. Her medabot, Neutranurse was everything her medafighter was but with a bit more courage. Both of them would stand before a gun if it meant saving their friends.

Rintaro, the undersized boy that reminded Dr. Aki of himself with his never ending talking and unbound energy. He was the fastest of anyone gathered zipping around at full speed, doing everything in haste. He seemed not to care about anything but fun but wouldn't let anyone end it with something 'freaky' as he called it. His main falling is his impatient desire to do something fun. His medabot was Kantaroth. A KBT mark three that was styled after Rintaro's idol Henry Agato's (I don't remember his last name) medabot. He fought as fast as Rintaro did anything, often delivering over whelming damage where an accurate strike would work. He was agitated because for once Rintato was silent and that wasn't a good sign.

Samantha, the self declared queen of everything. She was on a continuous ego trip but she occasionally looked past her own wants and did something for her friends. She had grace and class but her face was always in a snicker or full of hate as she screamed at someone. She was pale and kept tugging on her pigtails while her Medabot sat on the floor beside her. Peppercat had the most robattle experience except for Sumildadon; she was twirling her tail around in her claws.

Spyke, a boy who was often scared of his own reflection. He was without a doubt the worst medafighter in all of Japan if not the world. But no matter how many times he was beat down he got up and tried again. Dr. Aki couldn't help but think that if he trained as hard as he did with medaparts that Crosserdog's monkey medal was actually designed for he could be incredible. Spyke was the only one in the room who wasn't pale or shaken, instead he seamed furious. Crosserdog stood next to him shifting his feet not understanding why Spyke was mad and probably thinking it was something he did.

Sloan, the human stone. Never moving unless pushed too far but there for others to lean on. His skills where lacking but he never tried to be anything more than he was. An emotional and physical support for those around him and probably why Spyke and Samantha where his fiends. His medabot Totalizer was identical in every way and could easily be considered built to mimic Sloan.

And there at the far end of the table by himself, Gorge. An unknown element but still Aki could see that something in him. Dr. Aki couldn't decide what the boy was like. His face was smooth and open and made the impression that he was about to smile but whenever he did it was twisted into something like a grimace or scowl. Something traumatic had happened to him not too long ago but Dr. Aki had no time to help him. His medabot Flint was sitting next to him in another chair. The two of them were whispering to each other. Gorge looked ready to cry and Flint kept slapping the table and snapping at his medafighter.

After the darkness had passed Dr. Aki sent out helicopters and cars to find these kids. He had gone in his own helicopter to where Dagger had been, only to find him gone already. He shouldn't have been surprised to find Ikki there, certain events tended to follow him. But finding him staring at Metabee's medal and not even noticing the sobbing Erika that clung to him drove a fist in Aki's stomach. Knowing exactly what they were going through he bundled them and Gorge onto his helicopter with their damaged medabots and flew them back here.

In a drawer in his private office he had files on all these kids, except Gorge, and countless more. Year after year he watched for kids with that something he couldn't explain. In the best years he would find two or three, but none had been as strong as these kids before him. He watched every kid with that something seeing if it grew but far too often it would simply vanish before they entered their late teens.

He knew only one who had kept that something after childhood; it had even begun to grow. But just in the last few years that something began appearing in people who had never shown any sign of it before. Ikki was the only one in the room who had had it when Dr. Aki first meet him. The others had picked it up like seeds spreading from Ikki. Again Gorge was the unknown element, had he always had it or did it come from somewhere else?

Dr. Aki realized that his feet had stopped and made himself begin pacing again. He was avoiding the issues by thinking over irrelevant information. Dagger had just brought back the darkness that had nearly swallowed the world. The ten days of darkness had terrified the world and nearly sent civilization into ruin. And now Dagger had called up that same power, if only for a moment, and it feed every spore of fear in peoples hearts.

Dr. Aki had to stop Dagger and give the world his death to soothe their fears. No, he didn't have to stop Dagger, these children did. He would have them face the worst fear of every man and woman from every corner of the earth. There was no choice, they were the only ones who could stop him. The boy who had defeated the medabot responsible for the first days of darkness had that something; anyone else who had tried failed and died. And if these kids fell they would die too.

Dr. Aki dropped into the chair at the head of the table and rubbed at his temples. Why do things like this always happen so that the only saviors were those that should be the ones being protected? His head was killing him and could only get worse.

The door slid open and SMX walked into the room followed by Arkbeetle and a scientist with a cloth rapped bundle. The scientist was trying to tell SMX something but he said right over his objections, "I don't care what it takes just fix it up until it is like the newest model. And don't just try giving me a new one with a paint job I will know if you do and you will regret it." the scientist mumbled something before bowing and scurrying out.

SMX pushed Flint from his chair and ignored the varying expressions around the room. If they had been worried before now they were on the verge of panic. Every pair of eyes darted form Aki to SMX and back, wondering why they where here with two of the most famous people they had ever heard of.

Dr. Aki stood up regretting that he couldn't just look the way he felt, like a tired scared old man. "You all know what happened today." Every face that had been pale was now ashen as he went on, "the Darkness, just like what had happened ten years ago during the Ten Days of Darkness, has happened again. This time it lasted only moments but the medabot that caused it is still out there. It could happen again and if it does it could spread across the globe and consume everything."

Spyke leapt to his feet with his face red in anger, "You want us to go kill it! You want us to go out and fight a monster that will drain or very soils from us if we fail! And you are just going to sit back and watch as every one of us falls over lifeless before the same thing happens to you and the rest of the world! I don't care I'm not going anywhere near that thing! I heard what it did, my family showed me the graves of my grandfather and grandmother and told me that when they where put in the ground they where noting but an empty husk. NOT ME!"

Aki was expecting different things from them all but never this rage from Spyke. And he currently never thought Spyke would figure it out before he even started explaining. Spyke walked down the table towards the door, every head following him with shocked expressions. Crosserdog hurried along after him looking like he had been kicked.

As Spyke reached SMX's chair SMX reached out and caught his arm, "Sit down Spyke. You will listen to every word before you are _given_ the choice to help or not." Spyke tried pulling away but SMX's grip was tight, leaving a bruise on his arm. "Go sit down Spyke." Spyke took another step towards the door after SMX had let go but then went back to his seat, still looking angry.

Dr. Aki cleared his throat to pull everyone's attention back to him. "Yes I was going to ask you to help but first I must tell you everything. The medaforce is an incredible power in all medabots but few can summon it at all and only rare medals with any consistency. Few people understand that every medaforce aura is a different focus of the medaforce. A different color can do different things to the medabot using it but when attacking it is just a blast of power."

Aki slid back down into his chair, normally he would enjoy how every eye followed his movements and every ear turned to hear his words but today there wasn't joy in anything. "Green auras heal damage and restore energy while red strengthens armor and endurance. Every aura has a different effect and there are more auras than colors in the rainbow."

Koji raised his hand above his head like asking a question in school, "Dr. what dose this have to do with, with the Darkness?"

Dr. Aki rubbed his temples again but SMX spoke first, "The darkness is the medaforce. A black aura that pulls energy from everything and gives it to the medabot. It pulls energy from other medabots, the ground, the air, people. It even pulls the light from the air. Every drop of power is absorbed and given to the medabot, increasing the power of its medaparts exponentially and without limit. The medabot can draw in energy from everything in the shadow of its aura. But the shadow grows larger the longer the medabot holds the medaforce. And the longer it holds the medaforce the faster it drains energy."

Every word was sharp and hammered in by the slight tremble of his words. "How do you know that?" Every head snapped around to the youngest person there, Gorge. "Everyone knows that when the days of darkness ended almost every thing inside the area was dead. Its energy drained like being turned to stone, the only things alive were the strongest and heartiest people and a handful of medabots. Most of those that lived came out mad or went mad soon after. How do you know how that happened?"

The room was silent except shifting feet and taping fingers. Dr. Aki wished SMX had let him tell them that, it would have saved so many questions. "Answer him. You started telling them so tell them everything that happened."

SMX's fingers tightened on the table edge and everyone knew there was a frown behind that mask. "Fine." He removed his gloves and scarf folding them and putting them on the table. Putting his boots up on the table he leaned back, "I was there at the beginning of the ten days of darkness. I was there for the world robattle tournament; I got to meet some of my heroes. It was during the semi finals when the Darkness suddenly swept over everything."

His grip slipped in blood that had begun seeping from a cheap bandage on his hand. He pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve and held it tight in his fist. "Everyone thought that maybe the power had failed but when somebody shouted the it was black outside too hell broke free. Everyone tried running but spent most of the time crashing into things or trampling people who fell."

"From there things got worse. People's medabots tried saving them but only started fights in the dark. Fighting medabots hit people and medabots alike, not knowing what it was they where attacking until they struck. Blind shooting took lives of not just others but the very lives they where trying to protect." SMX's voice had dropped down to the low voice of someone remembering a bad dream.

"Eventually someone noticed that they could see a medabot in the dark. Everyone crowded around it thinking they had found a source of light but instead as soon as they touched it they collapsed without any energy. The medabot didn't understand what was going on it grabbed its medafighter, begging that she help him (I felt like making the medafighter a girl, deal with it). She screamed as it pulled every ounce of energy from her, it stared into her eyes as she ceased to live, not die but ceased to live, and then held onto her until she fell apart turning to dust. All within seconds. Everybody saw whatever touch the medabot and they simply thought it had stepped away when it disappeared and tried crowding closer but when they saw the woman as she went limp in its arms and turn to dust they froze. Not wanting to touch it but not wanting to go into the darkness."

The handkerchief had soaked up his blood and began to drip again. It was so much blood for a small cut but only his listener saw it, and felt every drop as if it was the blood that had been spilt long ago. "The medabot lost it mind as it watched its medafighter die from its touch. It could see everything in the black, it knew the blackness was there but it couldn't see it. It screamed out 'DARK! Give me the DARK!' then it attacked. It was like no other medabot ever made. A powerhouse of fast moving armor that had weapons of every kind and power hidden under its armor. It tore the blind crowds apart with lasers and high caliber slugs and shredded anyone near it with blades and claws or jets of flame. Not seeing what it was killing only made the horrors worse as my mind tried creating images to match the gruesome sounds and smells."

The small trail of blood began to run down the table slope and splattered down to the ground. "The slick smell of oil hiding under the coppery bite of blood, the gut churning smell of offal crawling into your nose and across your brain. The sound of flesh vaporizing and tearing, metal shattering and sparks crackling. Hundreds of screams growing loader as they tried to flee from death in the dark."

Even Dr. Aki was pale. He had never asked for all the information. He never realized just how strong SMX must have been to survive that. SMX went on not realizing what he was doing to his audience, "I was so scared I couldn't move. Arcbeetle grabbed me and dragged me away. Somehow we managed to get out of the arena but we were still in the dark and couldn't see which way to go. We spent a long time trying to find our way out of the shadow but it didn't matter how far we walked we just couldn't reach the edge."

His fist with the handkerchief slammed down on the table sending blood spurting everywhere. He finally noticed the blood on his hand and all over the table, "Sorry, it is just a bad memory." He saw the looks of fear on everyone's faces and must have just remembered he was speaking to children. "Maybe I should jump to the end."

When no one responded he nodded to himself and put his feet back on the ground. "After a few days that seemed like one long black streak we ran into the medabot. It had been attacked several times by someone somewhere. Its armor was cracked and missing big chunks in places. Most of it weapons were missing or broken and its parts were barely running at all. While we watched it coming down towards us a voice came from the darkness. 'This is the Japanese military surrender and you will not be harmed. Resist and you will be destroyed.' The medabot Screamed 'DARKNESS TAKE AWAY THE LIGHT!' and a laser folded out of its arm. A giant concussion tore at the air and the medabot exploded for a moment breaking the darkness nearby. Tanks, real live tanks, dozens of them had all come into the shadow to find out what it was and try to end it."

The brief light was painful to my eyes but was gone so fast I'm not sure it was really there. The darkness swallowed everything again and the medabot was still there, showing itself only because it was the source of the darkness. Its head was gone but it still kept moving. Another cannon shot, but no light this time, and a hole appeared in the medabots chest. It fell to the ground and I thought maybe it was over but then it stood again. A hole through its chest and floating there in the center of its chest was a medal. It was black I don't know if it was made black or if it had turned black but it was." He reached under his collar and dug around. He pulled out a fine sliver chain that he lifted over his head, keeping his hand over what was hanging on it.

He didn't look at it as he tossed it all the way to the center of the long table. An all black medal. Its gem was gone and the chain threaded through the hole where it had been. Dr. Aki stood up and walked down the table and picked it up, "I always thought you might have this. I just could not prove it and you refused to say what happened to it." he walked back to his chair, leaving the medal there on the table between them all. "Go on with your story."

The kids' eyes willingly turned away from the black medal and towards SMX. "I don't know what it did but there was a flash of the same dark light that lit the medabot. It lasted long enough for me to see the tanks collapse like they had been made of lose sand. I don't know what I was thinking but suddenly I was tossing rocks or anything I could grip at the medabot."

He pushed at his mask as if trying to rub his eyes, "It was blind now and that was probably the only reason I wasn't destroyed immediately. A missile rack appeared in its leg and fired, the missiles scattering everywhere. One of them landed near me and sent me flying. When I looked up again I saw Arcbeetle, I actually saw him. He was surrounded by a fierce red glow that shoved against the darkness."

"The medabot turned towards him as if it could see again and the missiles fired again. The red light disappeared and I called out for Arcbeetle and the light reappeared again. His right side was gone, blown apart but he was still standing. His glow pushed against the Darkness but it was a loosing fight. Just as the last of the red light was about to vanish I passed out." SMX pulled the handkerchief away from his hand and dropped it on the table when he saw he wasn't bleeding anymore.

He looked down the length of the table at Dr Aki. "I awoke and the sun was just beginning to rise. Arcbeetle was beside me, unable to move but still functioning. The medabot was gone except for the medal, I took it. We had traveled what felt like hundreds of miles while trying to escape the shadow. We had spent ten days crisscrossing the city and ended up only eleven miles from where we started."

"Dude! You're the Mystery Medafighter! And that means he is Metalbeetle." Even if more subdued than normal Rintaro was just as hyper as always.

SMX turned his head to Rintaro and shook his head ready to deny his statement.

Dr. Aki interrupted, "Yes. He is."

Every head snapped towards him and jaws fell, SMX looked ready to explode. SMX tried to stand but the rush of suppressed memories and blood loss made him fall back to his seat. He settled for pointing a blood stained finger at Aki, "If you plan on telling my secrets you will have to share yours. The few I know could condemn you to life in prison if not a death sentence."

Dr. Aki simply leaned back in his chair and raised his fingers in front of him. "All right no secrets." He looked back at SMX, "NO secrets." SMX's finger drooped as he saw his own plan backfire. Dr. Aki ignored him and spoke to the kids, "Its time you all choose if you want to help us. We can't tell you any more until you decide. Its up to each of you, and your medabots, this is their choice as much as yours."

"Sure. I need to pay him back for two sucker punches now" Medabee was back to his obnoxious self already. And Ikki simply nodded, his face was still very pale.

"The Screws are in." Samantha had gathered the gang around her and they all where nodding, even Spyke who looked angrier than ever.

"It wont be so bad this time, he cant face all of us." Koji began running his hand across Sumilidon's head, petting his medabot without realizing it. Sumilidon nodded both to agree and to dislodge the embarrassing action.

Karin was trying to get farther away from the drying blood on the table, "if I can help people I'll go." Neutranurse stepped between her medafighter and the table as she nodded vigorously, purposely blocking her from the blood.

"DUDE we get to save the world! How cool is that!" Rintaro was jumping on his chair while Kantaroth struck ridiculous muscle man poses behind him.

"We wouldn't miss this exclusive if you locked us up." Erika was hugging Brass tight but her eyes where still puffy from crying earlier.

All their eyes turned toward Gorge as he slumped in his chair. He didn't seem to deal well with everything happening so far. He looked at each of them in turn, searching for something. "I'm in." Gorge sat up so fast that he fell from his chair. Flint had agreed without seeing what he was going to do. Flint helped him to his feet, "I don't have a choice. I treated him like an ass. I need to do this if only because I treated him wrong."

Gorge flopped back into his chair, "I guess I have the same reasons. But he started it. I'm in but I don't have to like it."

"What is your story anyhow? What exactly are you doing here? The rest of us all know each other but I haven't even seen you before this." Samantha was as quick as always when it came to alienating someone.

Gorge scratched his head looking very uncomfortable, "I was or thought I was Xetreame's medafighter but then he turns out to be this Dagger and shouting about his friend."

"Wait a minute you were this thing's medafighter? What the hells the matter with you? Didn't you see anything strange with it?" Spyke was adamant about Dagger not being a medabot and nobody wanted to argue with him.

"I wasn't thinking about anything when I activated him. I spent most of my cash on his parts so I bought the medal from a pawn shop." Dr. Aki sat up bolt strait in his chair then sat back as SMX looked at him. Gorge went on, being the only one who didn't see the doctor's reaction. "After I activated him he jumped out the window and bolted. When the Select Corps found him for me I put in a restraint chip and treated him like a mutt."

Flint leaned against Gorge's chair; "You did the same to me. Just don't think I'm going to take it anymore. You are going to need a kick in the ass again and I plan to have my foot ready." This actually managed a few chuckles despite the rather unpleasant, ok just outright disturbing conversation.

"Do you know where Dagger might be going? Do any of you know?" Dr Aki's question stopped the laughter before it could combine with stress into hysterics.

George shook his head for a moment then snapped his fingers, "there where these two medabots at the dojo that acted like they knew him. I don't remember their names but they where modified. One was a KWG with a three bladed sword and the other was a CAT with a sword and a bow."

"Proximus and Adreastea. That was their names." Flint was looking across the table at Nutranurse while he spoke. His eyes left her long enough to give Gorge a hard look, "You should have known that. We have been working at that dojo for days and those two were the only ones who would fight me after you made me totally trash every other medabot that worked there." His eyes drifted back to Nutranurse as Gorge flushed and gave an embarrassed smile.

"Gorge you certainly are a vindictive little guy aren't you." Gorge jumped to his feet ready with a comeback for Erika but Flint kicked him the moment his butt left his chair. Gorge hoped around a bit before sitting down without saying anything. He split a glare between Erika and Flint, trying to decide who was worth his anger.

'Beep', Dr Aki pressed in intercom built into the table. "Miss Caviar could you send a car over to the dojo where the incident occurred earlier? Ask for the medabots called Proximus and Adreastea. Insist that they come back here immediately."

The intercom clicked off and Aki sat back in his chair again, "So that explains some questions. However I will want to question you more later Gorge." He stood up and walked over to the wide windows. Pulling the blinds open a bit he looked out over the city, "I guess it's time to tell my part of this story. It is very long and I will need to trim a lot off or we would be here well into the night."

Dr. Aki didn't move from the window despite his back hurting, "Dagger was my medabot." He waited for a reaction but it never came so he went on. "He was my first and only medabot. I got his parts and tinpet from one of the ruins that can be found in every corner of the world. The medal was something I had found when I was too young to know what it was."

"Why did you have to dig up the medaparts? Couldn't you just go down to the store and buy a set?" Sloan wasn't very quick on the uptake but Aki doubted that any of them would know this already but he had hoped.

"They didn't mass produce medabots when Dr. Aki was a kid. All the medabots back then where ones found in repairable condition or built by craftsmen that used the ancient parts as a blueprint." This was a surprise coming from Ikki of all people. "No one had discovered how to copy a medal yet so it would have been a waste of time to make so many medabots when only a handful of medals were found. And children found and took most of those. Medabots where mostly a curiosity or fashion statement. They never became truly popular until Professor Hushi (tell me how to spell his name!) successfully cloned the first medal. It was a mermaid medal he named Carmine and is currently in a museum in England." He must have finally saw the looks he was getting because he scratched his head, "I started studying anything I could find about medabots when Dr. Aki told me he would teach me what he knew. you can find most this stuff anywhere online."

Aki let his smile stay for a moment, liking that his pupil had taken initiative before wiping his face. "Anyhow me and Dagger spent much of our time building medaparts or fighting, it wasn't called robattling then. Eventually we got in a fight with a gang that liked to use several dozen medabots in a fight, we only survived because Dagger summoned the medaforce."

Aki turned back, his face shadowed by the window behind him, "At one point one of our experiments went wrong, very wrong. It could have destroyed every medabot on earth and kill hundreds of people along the way if Dagger and I hadn't stopped it. It doesn't matter what it was it is gone now and only I know how it was made." He edited his sentence in his head, 'only Dagger and I know how it was made.'

He went over to his chair again and sank into the soft padding, "I was fifteen when Dagger's medal was damaged. He had charged into a collapsing cave to save my girlfriend and her medabot. Later I took the pieces to Professor Hushi and asked him to help me repair Dagger's medal. He refused. He said he would teach me what he knew and show me how to make a new medal but he wouldn't help me fix Dagger's medal. He said it was like playing Frankenstein. I didn't listen to him and as soon as I thought I knew enough I tried to fix Dagger's medal. I used a compound called medabond. It is a metal related to the polymer used in making the gold that medals are made from."

Aki took a deep breath, "Before I could activate him Professor Hushi found me out. He confiscated Dagger's medal and chased me out saying that I wouldn't play god near him. A few days later I went back to get Dagger's medal and found the lab in ashes. Everything was gone. And I thought Dagger lost."

"A few days ago a Henry from down at the twenty-four hour hopmart sent me a picture of a medal that had been repaired with medabond. I couldn't think of anyone using medabond after it was discovered how susceptible it was to high-level energy surges. It was a bit much to hope for but I sent Space Medafighter X out to find him and bring him back in before he could damage himself attempting to use the medaforce." Aki pressed his fingers under his glasses to rub his eyes. "He got in a fight with Dagger and Dagger used the medaforce. All my simulation said that that would have wiped his memories clear but it appears that that isn't the case. However he isn't acting like the Dagger I remember so we could have a totally new medabot with some of Dagger's memories or perhaps Dagger is slowly recovering his memories. Either way I have no idea how he would react to me. The last time he saw me I was a teenager who had just got a second date. Now I'm an old man who spends his time plotting to save the world with the help of a guy in spandex and a group of kids." His joke simply fell on the floor.

SMX drummed his finger on the table then winced as his scab pulled. "It sounds like your leaving something out. Something we need to know but your afraid will scare us."

Dr. Aki slumped in his chair, too tired to act strong anymore, "You were always one to see what I didn't want to say." He straightened up in his chair and looked at everyone. "Dagger can use the medaforce." He waved away the forming 'duhs' "No I mean he can _use_ it. I don't know how he learned to do it but sometime during our bout of 'lets go save the world' he somehow started using different medaforce auras. He isn't very strong in the medaforce, downright miniscule compared to Metabee or even Arkbeetle here but he can shift between the different auras and use the effects they give him so that he could stand both of you on your heads."

Spyke slammed his fist down on the table making everyone jump, "You knew that that monster could call on the darkness and you let it live."

Dr Aki glared at him but Spyke didn't back down, "Spyke the ten days of darkness was the first ever use of the black medaforce. I thought Dagger gone long before that and when he showed up again I was too busy trying to get my best friend back to think of what he had never done before. I should have thought of it but I didn't. Now it is too late and we have to capture him and give the world proof of his destruction before anyone makes a preemptive strike."

"Now control yourself Spyke." Spyke crossed his arms and leaned back not looking very much in control. Aki went on after making sure he wouldn't be interrupted again, "Dagger isn't the most skilled fighter in the world but he has never lost to anyone twice. He has a long list of self-taught skills for different situations. He has enough knowledge to build or repair any medapart with the simplest of tools. And finally, in his memory is every software upgrade we had made together. Some of which could make him unstoppable to anyone without those upgrades. I don't think he would use those particular upgrades but even without those he has more than enough to best every one of your medabots in every conceivable way."

"Why not just give us these super upgrades? Then we could walk all over him and bring him in before he could even use the medaforce." Koji seemed to be taking this far too simply but he would learn it wasn't so simple soon enough.

"I wont give you the 'super' upgrades. I can't risk them getting into the wrong hands. I will however give you all enough upgrades that you should be able capture him without harm to anyone. At least if he isn't using the 'super' upgrades himself. The problem is that he could be using any number of upgrades and we don't know when he started running them." Aki was already deciding what upgrades to give to whom.

"Why not just load up our medabots with all the hardware parts you have. Then while he is still using his nanos to upgrade we can get him." Ikki just lost the point he scored earlier.

Dr. Aki thumbed his temples again, wondering how many pain killers it would take to soften his headache and if he could survive the overdose. "Most of the upgrades we made together were software upgrades because it was work too fine for any tool we had. Even if I set up the nano grade assembly line to make the parts it would take just as long as the software and you would have no transition period. It would be like trying to fly a super sonic fighter when all you have ever driven was a go-cart. And then there is the fact that most of you can only handle one or two upgrades of this power. Metabee and Arkbeetle might handle four or five but they have better medals. Dagger could run them all. He helped me make them and I made them with his system in mind. I didn't realize until I started the Medabot Corporation that those upgrades were attuned to his medal energy."

George spoke up as Dr Aki massaged his head, "Why can't you just change the energy signature so it matches our medabots?"

Aki's head was ready to burst, "I can't. I wrote his energy into the very structure of the code. I would have to rebuild the code for each of your medabots. It would take me days just to do a single upgrade for one of you. Because I used his energy in the code it is like I made the code with Dagger's DNA. It is compatible with other medabots but it works best with a matching energy. The closer the energy is the better it would work."

Just then there was a knocking at the door. Security guards carried in Proximus and Adreastea, each one tied hands and feet with steel cords. The guards dumped them on the table and left them there struggling to get free. The scientist SMX talked to earlier slipped in and sat the bundle beside SMX and left. Dr. Aki put his head in his hands and said, "I hate when nothing works the way it should."

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Ok that was huge. And I don't know what to make of it. Let me know what you think.

There are a lot of questions still but they will be covered sooner or later. This chapter will have to hold you over for a while; I need to work on my other fics for a bit.

I finally went out and got the proper spellings of the kids and there medabots. They are, SMX (phantom medafighter, Phantom renegade and Henry) and Arcbeetle, Erika and Brass, Rintaro and Kantaroth, Karin and NeutraNurse, Samantha and Peppercat, Koji and Sumilidon, Sloan and Totalizer, Spyke and Cyandog (latter Crosserdog) Ikki and Metabee, DR. Eugene Aki, I will find the rest later.

Say thanks to Corona89


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